Lost Worlds
by Organization VI
Summary: After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.
1. The Lost Worlds

LOST WORLDS 

**Chapter 1: The Lost Worlds**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Full Disclaimer (This is the long version): **This fanfic closely follows events that take place both in the English version of Kingdom Hearts II and several Disney movies and T.V. shows. Events and characters from the game, movies and shows are portrayed that are not ours, and often direct quotations are taken from any of these sources. We, the authors, in no way lay claim to any places, characters, objects or direct quotes used in this fanfic, and no money is being made from this. Any such references from Kingdom Hearts II are copyright Disney and Square Enix. Any such references from any other Disney movie/T.V. series are copyright Disney. Links to any transcripts used can also be given if requested.

(Okay! Just making sure we have our bases covered.)

**Author's Notes: **Wow, this if finally getting posted! Woohoo! This will probably be the longest the author's notes are, so sorry for boring you early:

This is a collaboration fic between Lynx and Rebmakash, with some help from others, so any reviews can be sent there!

This story is still a WIP, and may last awhile. Updates for at least the first two major parts will be regular, though.

This fic is written as if it were taking place during and throughout the latter half of Kingdom Hearts II, so there will be lots of **specific spoilers**. Please be forewarned!

We may even have illustrations on a different site in the future, so look out for those! XD

Okay, and we begin!

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The path was open.

Out of the inky blackness above his head, the familiar Keyhole outlined itself in white light. Beyond it he could see a vortex made of light, stars and bits of universe. It was all there, waiting for him to unlock it, and explore what lay beyond.

Waiting for him to save it.

Before, Sora wouldn't have given it a second thought. Another gateway just meant another world full of new faces, new people to meet and fight with and help.

But now, all of those peoples' worlds, their livelihoods, were endangered by a gang of men in black coats.

_All because of me._

The Keyblade jittered in his hand, straining to connect to the Keyhole. He raised it on instinct, letting it drag his hand upwards like two magnets pulled together. Then light circled up from the tip of the Keyblade and struck home in the center of the Keyhole. Sora held in his breath and steeled his nerves as the vortex reversed itself, spilling light out of the hole and into his mind.

"Not yet! I gotta look for Kairi!"

The pitch-black that Sora, Donald and Goofy were steeped in began to dissolve. Donald ran forward and caught the sea-salt ice cream bar as it floated back to the ground. Sora backed up to his two friends as the darkness continued to recede, revealing a new landscape.

"What's happening?" Goofy wondered aloud.

"I don't kn—"

The black disappeared in a flash of light and matter, leaving the trio suspended in midair. Gravity snagged them by the shoes, and they tumbled back to earth with a chorus of startled yells.

Donald was the first one back on his feet, still clutching as the ice cream bar. "Where are we now?" he grumbled.

Sora shook his head and looked up at their surroundings. They stood at what seemed the focal point of a mountain, forest and valley. The forest itself felt very old and worn...as if it had nearly been destroyed once, but didn't have the strength to grow back. In the distance, the charcoal-black mountain jutted out with an air of menace. Below them stretched a dry river bed, its angular rocks colored a familiar blue and purple.

"Did we get dropped in a new world?" Donald repeated his question.

The old forest and dead river felt too familiar to Sora for it to be a new world. Something trying to grow back, but not able to yet...

He suddenly remembered the photo still between his fingers. He held it up, studying it once more.

_The name just popped into my head...this is Roxas._

But wasn't that what Demyx had called him, back in the Underworld? Sora had just chalked it up to Demyx's kookiness...after all, he didn't seem to be the brightest one of the bunch. But now, with a face to go with the name, Sora began to wonder if Demyx had been messing with him after all. Something in the boy's eyes caught him and held him there, like looking into an old and warped mirror. If this was indeed Roxas, why did the Organization keep calling him so?

Goofy's hand gently shaking his shoulder pulled his gaze away from the photo. "Sora, you okay?"

Sora stumbled over his thoughts before sticking the photo back in his pocket. "Yeah, I just..." He turned away from Goofy and clenched his fists. "I was so close to finding Kairi, and then he had to go and!..." Sora trailed off, unable to think of anything suitably nasty enough to say about Saïx.

"Y'know, let's just concentrate on findin' out where we are," Goofy suggested.

The rest of the fight came rushing back to Sora in an instant. "Maleficent helped us get away! But..." He threw another long look at the granite landscape. "...Where did we get sent?"

Donald took a few irritated licks of the ice cream bar. "I don't know...but if you opened the gate, shouldn't we have returned to the gummi ship?"

As if the ship heard and honored his request, the three were suddenly struck frozen by three beams of light from the sky. With a flash and popping sensation, they suddenly found themselves back in the gummi ship cockpit.

"Ahyuck, I guess it worked!" Goofy chuckled.

"That was weird..." Donald said, and then returned to his ice cream.

Sora took a quick scan of the ship's instruments. Everything seemed to be in order. He felt a little more relaxed at being in a familiar place. _Maleficent really _did _get us out of there_.

"I guess sometimes help comes from unexpected places," Sora mused aloud.

Goofy nodded at the box still in Sora's lap. "A photo and some ice cream? Hmm. Wonder if they're some sorta clue? And who woulda left 'em for us, anyway?"

"Riku?" Sora said slowly, turning back to look at the knight.

"Ya think?"

While his look at the cloaked figure had been brief, Sora couldn't shake the distinct suspicion he received. "Just this feeling I got."

Donald pointed out to the ship's map, where the worlds they had visited remained brightly lit. Twilight Town seemed to especially glow. "Look! We're almost there!"

Sora's heart leapt at the idea of revisiting his friends...until he remembered that those lights were usually a sign of more Heartless. "Hey, what if the Heartless are back again?" he said, frowning. "I can't use the Keyblade—that would only help the Organization."

"But Sora, I think ya have to use it. If we don't fight 'em, the Heartless'll keep on hurtin' folks," Goofy reasoned.

Sora considered this for a while, and knew that Goofy was right.

"Although I do wonder what was that foresty-place we ended up in," Goofy added.

"Well, it looks like we're still right by Hollow Bastion," Sora said, squinting at some of the instrument's readouts. "Maybe it was...I dunno, on the other side of Hollow Bastion's world?"

"And even Leon and the others didn't know about it?" Donald sounded skeptical.

"Sora! We're so glad you guys're okay!" Dale's squeaky chipmunk voice piped up over the intercom, made even squeakier by the static.

Sora smiled at the engineer's enthusiasm. "Could you send a message to Leon and everyone in the Borough and let them know we're okay?"

"Will do!" Dale responded cheerfully.

"Hold on, Dale," I'm picking up something here," Chip's voice popped up. "Is that what I think it is?"

"What?" Sora questioned, trying to decipher the graphs and charts on the dashboard. Even after flying this thing from one end of the universe to another, he still couldn't grasp what all the little buttons and graphics on the ship meant.

"Some of the walls have come down, and I can see a whole cluster of new worlds back there!" Chip explained.

"You're right, Chip!" Dale said. "Gosh, looks like there's four or five new worlds out there...maybe more!"

"New worlds?" Donald hopped out of his seat to look at the graphs, nearly dripping ice cream over the dashboard. "Where, lemme see!"

"Hey, watch it with that," Sora warned, pushing the magician's ice-cream-laden hand away from the sensitive instruments. After a few moments of studying the readouts, he determined the two chipmunks were right after all: a whole ring of previously-blocked worlds now lay exposed.

"I guess openin' that gate opened up more than we thought," Goofy spoke for all of them.

Sora put his hand on his chin, thinking over what this meant. Lost worlds...just waiting for him.

_But waiting for me to do what?_

Sora stood suddenly, startling the other two. "Let's go see these new worlds."

"But what'll we do about the Heartless there?" Donald asked him.

Newfound knowledge gripped Sora by the throat and held back his normal answer. His right hand curled reflexively around where the Keyblade's handle normally fit. "If there's Heartless, we'll just try to defend ourselves and not kill them," he reasoned. "I _won't_ be made responsible for what the Organization does. But there might be a way to Kairi and Riku in one of those new worlds. And if there is, we've got to go find it."

"So we're changing our course?" Donald cocked an eyebrow at him, wanting to make sure his certainty was genuine.

"Yeah," Sora replied, sitting back down and strapping himself into his seat.

"All right, we knew you'd do it!" Dale cheered from over the intercom.

Sora allowed the tension to seep out of his muscles as the ship's engines began to rattle the cockpit. Yes, he had lost his chance to find Kairi and Riku. Yes, the Keyblade was now causing just as many problems as it was solving. But perhaps this cluster of new worlds was a sign...a sign of something new, some way in that would help him find his friends for good.

"Let's go!"

The gummi ship revved up its engines and then shot off, streaking towards the bright section of space where the lost worlds waited.


	2. The Hunt Begins

**LOST WORLDS **

**Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Disney movies used in this fanfic; they belong exclusively to Disney and Square. See the first chapter for full disclaimer.

**Author's Notes: **This'll probably be updated every five days or so. Subplots, wee!

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Saïx felt his presence from behind, as usual. It was one of the few things he wished Xemnas wouldn't do... Saïx hated the feeling of someone behind him, where a person could always know more than he did. And Xemnas always knew much more.

"You lied."

Saïx turned to face his Superior. Xemnas had a look of intrigued confusion.

"What other option was there?" Saïx pointed out, trying to hide his discomfort. "If Sora believes that we have Kairi, he will continue his fight. I saw it in his eyes...you should have seen him get on his hands and knees for me. He would slay ten thousand Heartless for us to see her safe."

Xemnas seemed less impressed than Saïx would have hoped. "And what, pray tell, will you do when the Keyblade Master arrives and discovers she is not here?" he sneered. "We want his wrath to work for us, not against us."

Saïx had seen Sora take down the thousands of Heartless in the Great Maw. It was not something he wanted to consider.

"You should not have lost her in the first place," Xemnas added, circling Saïx like a wolf sizing up its prey. "And you _especially_ should have been able to take her from that traitor Axel."

Against his better judgment, Saïx made excuses. "We got into a scuffle in the Dark City. During the fight, she and the King's dog escaped through a portal of darkness."

Xemnas's eyes narrowed. "Axel."

"No...there's someone else who's been interfering," Saïx said, remaining remarkably calm under his Superior's gaze. "Someone dressed as one of our own. He helped Sora and his companions out of that dark realm the witch-fairy sent them to. He's been following around Kairi and the dog ever since, offering escapes when she needs them." He paused. "I'm not certain if he's acting alone—"

"He's not," Xemnas said, and left it at that.

"I will go out and retrieve Kairi," Saïx finally stated. "By the time Sora even discovers this world, she'll be here. Everything will remain secure."

Xemnas left his tight circle around Saïx and strayed to the edge of the balcony, his boots clacking sharply against the uneven metal floor. His long silver hair stirred in the nonexistent breeze as he stared up at the heart-shaped moon, pulsing brighter and larger with each heart extracted. "Saïx, I need not remind you how close we are...how soon we shall have our own hearts. If we falter now, all shall be for naught."

"Yes," Saïx sighed. He was eager to get to work.

"These new worlds that have appeared will only benefit us," Xemnas added, turning back to the berserker. "Sora and his friends will surely visit them. While you are out searching for Kairi, take advantage of the denizens there. I will send Xigbar as well."

Xemnas then strode down the loud metallic hall, towards his quarters. "I expect the girl back here soon, Saïx."

"And what if I should encounter Axel?"

"Kill him."

"And the rogue in disguise?"

"Kill him."

For the first time since returning from Hollow Bastion, Saïx smiled. In a burst of black and purple mist, he was gone, and the castle was cold and empty as always.


	3. The Etherium

**LOST WORLDS **

**Chapter 3: The Etherium**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the Disney movies used in this fanfic; they belong exclusively to Disney and Square. See the first chapter for full disclaimer.

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Interspace was always an odd thing. It wasn't the black sky decorated with stars that Sora had always seen from his islands. Like any scenery, it changed. He had seen it full of swirling colors, bright nebulas and swirling nexuses.

The autopilot hummed softly as Donald and Goofy slept. It had been a long trip, anyway.

This new path seemed different to Sora. It was common for scenery to change, but this was by far the most beautiful he had ever seen. This Interspace varied, and the brightness of stars; worlds, rather, nearby determined the colors. Some areas seemed as blue as day, spattered with glistening stars and what looked like fluffy purple clouds swirling through an imitation of normal atmosphere. Others were as dark as night, lit by a passing form that looked like a comet.

"But shooting stars are walls being broken down," Sora thought aloud quietly, "right?" And he wondered if that chunk of ice held a gummi piece inside. "But we haven't even reached a world yet... How far out are the walls?" He shrugged, and wondered if Xehanort had written about it.

"Why aren't you gettin' some sleep?" came a voice from his pocket.

Sora recognized the voice. "Oh, I can't sleep. Why aren't you, Jiminy? For once you have a quiet place to sleep,"

"Just because you're not moving around doesn't mean I can sleep either," he replied.

"Why not?" Sora laid back as Jiminy stepped onto his knee.

"Well, somehow I can't find my journal!" The little cricket fretted, removing his tiny top hat.

"What? Really?"

"I can't find it anywhere. I wish I knew where it could have gone to."

Sora stretched out, sticking his hand in is pocket. "...Hey, I think I found something!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, what about..." He glanced at the tiny item between his fingertips. "Oh...your umbrella."

Jiminy sighed, shaking his head. "Well, I appreciate you looking. I guess in the meantime I'll use my empty journal."

"Oh, sure. That makes sense—"

The Keyblade master was cut short when the whole ship reeled from a massive blow.

Donald let forth a loud quack. "What's the big idea?!"

"Gawrsh, did we crash?" Goofy shouted, jolted awake.

"We're under attack!" Sora grabbed hold of the controls as sirens blared in the cockpit.

Two tiny voices came over the speakers. "Sora, this place is dangerous!" said Chip.

Dale added in, "Check the radar, Nobodies have found us!"

A single glance told Sora just how many.

"Goofy, help me with the cannons! Sora, get us outta here!" Donald commanded.

"But—"

"We can't fight this many, we gotta get away!"

The magician was right. Enemy fire was heavy, and the ship was becoming harder and harder to control as their Aero gummis were eaten away. With every jolt of the ship the controls became stiffer in Sora's hands.

"...You got it! Hold on guys, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!" Sora exclaimed.

The nebula ahead looked able to provide some refuge, though the area was full of scattered debris from something Sora couldn't identify. Its golden clouds could become a haven.

That is, if they reached it. Despite the engines being at full, an odd pull from behind kept them from reaching maximum speed. Indeed, like strings of cotton, parts of the nebula were drawn backward.

Sora was almost thrown out of his seat at a direct hit, his face temporarily plastered on the window.

"We lost the third vernier and the booster!" Chip exclaimed. "Your speed's dropped by--"

"A lot!" Sora interrupted as the ships began to bear down on them. "Why are we being pulled backwards?!" Phoenix and Bomber Nobodies skimmed by, peppering them with lasers.

"Where did they all come from?!" Donald yelled.

Goofy asked a better question. "Better yet, where do we go?! Whatever's pulling us is through the nebula behind us!"

However, bright light shone through that nebula with intensity, and the thrusters pulled them forward with a massive lurch. A second later a shockwave rattled the cockpit. Whatever was drawing them back had released its pull. Clutching the controls for dear life, Sora pushed them forward with all his strength to maximize what speed they had.

Sirens blared through the cockpit, emergency lighting bathing them all in crimson. A formation turned towards them, and Sora braced himself. "...Not yet!"

Sora was deafened by a massive explosion.

...Yet the ship didn't move at all.

Opening his eyes, he discovered the Nobody ships had been utterly destroyed; bits of gummi pieces sparkling in Interspace. "Woah..."

Another swarm of Speeders swung around, but what could only be best described to Sora as a Graviga cannon blast literally wiped them away. After a brief hesitation, the other ships surrounding them broke formation, vanishing into darkness.

And emerging from the nebula behind them sailed a beautiful ship quite unlike the Heartless ship he had seen before on the way to the Olympus Coliseum.

Its sails rippled with light.

------

People appeared on the deck, and Sora marveled at how they could possibly breathe in Interspace. He pressed his face against the glass as he looked on, confused.

"I'm bringing her closer. Obviously we don't have anything to fear from these guys," Donald quacked.

"Okay..." Sora said, barely paying attention. "...A sailing ship? In the middle of Interspace? How?"

They pulled up alongside the deck, and some being that appeared to be the captain looked at them curiously amongst a crowd of other odd and uniquely different people.

"How can they breathe?" Sora asked aloud.

It was Chip who answered over the intercom. "Maybe it's the nebulas there, but there's certainly breathable air. Sensors say there's oxygen."

"But it looks just like Interspace!" Donald returned.

"I think it is Interspace." Goofy scratched his head. "Just a different kind, I guess..."

"Then let's get some fresh air!" With irrepressible enthusiasm Sora punched a few buttons and the cockpit began to depressurize and open.

"Sora! Just because there's oxygen doesn't mean there aren't poisonous gasses!" Donald leapt onto Sora, grabbing him by the collar.

Stumbling to keep his balance, he shrugged, taking in a deep breath. "...They said it was breathable." Pausing a moment, Donald let go and dropped to his feet, mumbling something incomprehensible.

Smiling, the Keyblade master turned again to the people on the deck. "Ahoy!"

There were several replies, one of which, to Sora's surprise and amusement, seemed composed of rather rude noises.

"You there! Come aboard!"

"Aye-aye!" Sora saluted the captain, jumping onto the deck, immediately followed by Goofy and a rather feather-ruffled Donald.

"Well, first a brush with the star Pelusa, and now rescuing a peculiar band of spacers from those marauding reprobates." The slim captain held herself with a formal dignity, emphasized all the better by her prim feline features. "I'm Captain Amelia, and this is the _RLS Legacy_, host to a large parcel of escapades, but we can save that banter for after the trip to the galley tomorrow morning."

"I'm Sora, uh...Pilot of the _Highwind_. And these are my friends, Donald and Goofy."

"Nice ta meet'cha Captain Amelia, we—"

The captain cut Goofy off. "As delightful as it is to meet you, we need to get back underway. You are permitted to dock via the hold hatches below. There should be room enough for your little ship there."

Before Sora could make any retort in response to that, Amelia continued, "Excellent, Mr. Silver, the lifelines were in good hands, thanks to your cabin boy."

Following her eyeline, Sora saw what appeared to be a fatherly-looking cyborg and a young man his age, chuckling and pushing each other jokingly. He blinked. It had been a little while since he had been back to Twilight Town with all the problems Hollow Bastion was having, and seeing someone his age was a relief, if nothing else.

"Now that all that tumult is finally settled," Amelia began, "all hands accounted for, Mr. Arrow?"

The silence that ensued tied Sora's stomach in knot. Something was not right.

"Mr. Arrow?"

The crowd cleared the way for a man that looked more like a spider or a crab than any man Sora was used to. Sora looked down at Donald, and he could tell his feathers were standing on end.

Bowing his head a moment so that white ropes of greasy hair hung in his face, he said, "I'm sad to report Mr. Arrow has been lost. His lifeline was not secured."

All eyes fell to the cabin boy.

"No, I checked them all!" His eyes widening, he ran down to the main deck where the lifeline ropes had been carefully knotted on every peg.

Save one.

"I—I did. I checked all of them!" he said in disbelief. "They were secure..." The youth turned back, his eyes pleading for affirmation. "I swear."

The captain looked very disappointed in him, a look that Sora remembered from his own mother. She held her dignity without a hint of crying, yet Sora knew from the look in her eyes, somewhere her heart ached terribly. A moment of silence ensued. Though he had never met the officer, he felt the emotion of the silence. "Mr. Arrow was a..." The catlike woman cleared her throat. "Fine spacer. Finer than most of us could ever hope to be. But he knew the risks. We all do." She turned to go up the stairs. "Resume your posts. We carry on."

Bowing their heads, Goofy, Donald and Sora turned back to their ship.

"You three."

"Us, ma'am?" Goofy looked back at Amelia.

"...Dock your ship and meet me in the stateroom. If you are going to join us while you repair your ship, you have some catching up to do."

------

"What did you want to see us about, Captain?" The Key-bearer could hardly keep his eyes on her. Not only did the stateroom have its various trinkets and wonders, but a canine-like man sporting glasses and a book stood behind her.

"Mr. Sora..."

"Uh, just Sora, ma'am." He rested his hands on the Keyblade, which he had used to close the hatch before Goofy pointed out there was a switch.

Amelia looked at him quizzically, before continuing. "You are free to make use of the crew quarters while you stay here. Since we are on course and I have been informed we are close to our destination, it seems you will be accompanying us for the remainder of the voyage."

"So where are we going?" Sora grinned. "I've never been on a ship full of aliens!"

The captain gave him a look only a cat could give, a look of surprise, extreme annoyance and curiosity all in one. Meanwhile, the man behind her just looked blatantly amazed.

Sora heard Donald comment to Goofy. "What does that make us to him?"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Cut the blather. There are more important matters at hand." She stepped back, motioning to the man behind her. "This is Doctor Doppler—"

"--The noted astrophysicist. Nice to meet you three." Pushing up his glasses, he extended his arm for a handshake from them each. "But as for that Keyblade..."

"Y-you know about this?"

"Of course. You don't study where all the worlds are without their legends. And I might say, that's quite a legend."

Sora paused. "Yeah..."

"What concerns me most is if any of the crew sees it or discovers what it is."

"Why?" Goofy scratched his head.

"I can't say if you noticed, since you only just now disembarked," Amelia began, "but thanks to the doctor's lapse in acumen, the crew he's chosen seems to be composed of nothing more but scalawags."

"Hey!"

"So what does that have to do with this? Do..." He looked over to a locked cabinet behind Doppler. "Oh. There's something important in there or something, isn't there?"

"If they get hold of that—"

"Oh, don't worry, Doctor. Try to take it from me." With that, Sora held out the Keyblade.

Slowly, the academic took hold of the weapon with his paw-like hands. "...And?" Still, he examined the blade with intense interest.

Of course, that interest turned to surprise quickly. The Keyblade faded into golden light before reappearing in Sora's hand. "Whoo! What just happened?"

"Sora can summon the Keyblade back with his heart," Donald piped up.

"...That'll do, but be careful." Amelia still looked cautious.

"What's so important anyway?" The court magician folded his arms. "You act like there's treasure in there or something."

"There isn't," Amelia answered, but Doppler paused notably.

"Oooooh-kay. Then what's in there? If we've gotten pulled into the middle of this, it'd be nice to know what's goin' on," Sora insisted.

"I think we outta know if there's a chance we can help out." Goofy scratched his nose.

Placing her hands behind her back, Amelia began to explain. "Our cabin boy is Jim Hawkins, a rather rebellious youth, and the boy who found the map."

"The map to what?" Again, the knight scratched his nose. "To treasure?"

"More than that. To Treasure Planet itself."

The blank look from the trio made Amelia sigh. "What kind of childhoods did you have not to hear that anecdote?"

"Oh, well...we heard it; it's just been so long ago. Could you, um, refresh our memories?" Sora had never been the best of liars, but Doppler went ahead and told them.

"A pirate by the name of Captain Nathaniel Flint was notorious for his plunders; a ruthless heart who ravaged ship after ship, and could vanish without a trace. Legend has it that he hid his treasure somewhere. Treasure Planet: the loot of a thousand worlds."

"And you have the map to it!" Donald observed.

The two nodded.

"...And we have to make sure they don't find out you have the map to Treasure Planet?"

"Yes, Sora," Doppler said. "Though chances are they already know."

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	4. A Narrow Escape

LOST WORLDS 

**Chapter 4: A Narrow Escape**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

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"What've we gotten ourselves into?" Sora said as they walked out of the captain's cabin.

"Hey, who's that?" Goofy pointed to two individuals. One sat upon the riggings, the other walked up to the railing.

"Shhh! Let's see who it is; maybe we'll find out if they know." Donald pulled them both down behind a laser cannon by their ears.

Sora recognized the two as Mr. Silver and Jim Hawkins, the latter of which sat tying a bit of rope into knots.

The heavy-set cyborg puffed on his pipe. "It weren't your fault, you know."

Jim sighed irritably.

"Why, half the crew would be spinnin' in that black abyss if not for—"

Jim threw the rope overboard, jumping down onto the railing. "Look, don't you get it?!" He confronted Silver. "I screwed up! I mean, for two seconds, I thought that maybe I could do something right, but--aaaagh!" Running frustrated fingers through his hair, Jim turned and headed toward the mast support. "I just—" He sighed angrily. "Just forget it. Forget it." The youth rubbed his face with a few fingertips.

Sora knew that kind of frustration well, from when he lost the Keyblade to Riku in Hollow Bastion. Still, no one died from that, and his heart sank for the youth.

The cyborg looked sympathetically at the youth with his glowing yellow eye. Using his massive, finely-clawed hand, he took Jim by the shoulder and turned him around to face him. "Now, you listen to me, James Hawkins." He motioned with his pipe. "Ya got the makings of greatness in ya...! But you gotta take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls! And when the time comes you get the chance to really test the cut of your sails and show what you're made of...well, I hope I'm there, catching some of th' light comin' off ya that day."

"Light," Sora whispered.

Silver held out his arms, seeming as if he were imagining what that day would be like, and looked at Jim with compassion.

Sora knew the light of the heart well...and he could only imagine Silver, in some way, knew about it too. Whether or not he fully understood it, he knew that Jim, despite his seemingly unsociable demeanor, had a bright light inside him.

As a response, Jim lowered his head, sniffling, and leaned it against Silver's stomach. The cyborg looked rather taken aback and unsure before finally taking Jim by the arms. He laughed weakly. "There, there. Lad, it's all right, Jimbo." The reassuring hold became a full embrace. "It's all right."

Silver cleared his throat, clearly trying to put an end to the touching moment. "Now, Jim, I, um..." With some noticeable uncomfortableness, he straightened his hat and thumbed behind him. "I best be getting' about my watch, and you best be getting some shut-eye." He gently pushed him in the direction of the crew's quarters. Jim lingered a moment, looking back. His dejected expression turned into a small smile before he went down.

"Those two are real buddies," Goofy turned, commenting to the other two.

"Looks like it," Donald said. "Those other guys give me the creeps, but that Silver guy doesn't at all."

"Yeah..." Sora looked back to the opening for the quarters. "Y'know, I think I'm gonna go talk to him."

"What? Now?" Donald asked, but Sora was already on his way. The deck itself was now clear, save for them. "Why that—"

Goofy took Donald by the shoulder. "He don't get ta meet other guys his age much. Jus' let him go. Personally I could use a glass of water right now."

Donald sighed and gestured for Goofy to follow. "Yeah, me too, c'mon..."

------

"Hey! Hey, wait up!" Sora waved his hand as he ran down the hall.

Jim turned, his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking suddenly annoyed. "You following me?"

"What? No, I just saw you going down the hall."

"Huh." He turned, heading closer to the crew's quarters.

"Hey, wait." Sora trotted up. "I didn't get a chance to introduce myself." Holding out a hand, he continued, "I'm—"

"Sora. I was there."

"Oh, right." With mild embarrassment he scratched the back of his head. "And you're Jim Hawkins."

"Yeah?" He leaned his back against the wall.

"Well, I just wanted to say it's nice to meet the guy who, um..." He stopped himself from saying too much, in case they were in earshot. "The guy who started this voyage. I would have loved for something to happen like this in years past. Still kinda do, actually," he laughed.

"Sure..." he said simply. He turned, but stopped short of heading anywhere. "You three are the oddest spacers I've seen for a while. Believe me, that's saying a lot." He looked back, his short ponytail flipping over his shoulder. "Still, nice to see someone younger around."

"Yeah. So, how come you're on this trip?" the Key-bearer gestured. "You could have sent someone else out."

"For whatever the same reason you're out here in the middle of the Etherium, probably."

Sora looked confused. "Etherium?"

"Yeah, you know..." Jim displayed a sarcastic smile as he motioned with a finger. "What you've been traveling in? What this ship is floating in?"

"Really. You call this the Etherium, not Interspace..."

"Hit your head pretty hard when you were attacked by those weird ships, huh?" Jim put a finger to his temple.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. Why?"

"Thought so," he smiled, crossing his arms.

Sora paused, but asked another question. "That guy I noticed when I came onto the ship...Silver? Is he your adopted father or something? You seem pretty close."

Jim took on a brooding expression. "No."

This took Sora off-guard, and, cocking his head a little, he dared to ask, "Um, you didn't get along with your dad?"

"He was never the type to be there to get along with." Jim faced away.

"Wow. So he was always away."

"Most of the time. Until he took off for good one day." He glared at the wall darkly. "What do you care?"

"Well, if I'm going to be here until our ship's fixed, I might as well help out and get to know everyone, right?"

Jim gave him an odd look. "If you want. So why are you guys out here, anyway? You're quite a ways off from the nearest spaceport."

"Oh, well...we've been on our own search, too." Sora tried to dodge the question, putting his hands behind his head.

"Treasure hunting?" Jim folded his arms.

"Not quite. Kind of exploring, and looking for my friends."

"They're spacers too?"

"You could say that. Riku, I think...I think something really bad happened to him, but I can't get a word from anybody as to what. And Kairi, she..."

"You have a girlfriend?" Jim straightened himself.

Blushing, Sora tried to finish, "She's, um, well..."

Jim just smiled. "Did she run off?"

"What?! No! No, she wouldn't-- She was kidnapped."

Jim looked a little concerned. "Do you know by who?"

"Yeah, though he lost her to someone just as bad..."

"Well, maybe on your trip you can get her back."

"Yeah. She and Riku are two of my closest friends. I grew up with them."

"Hmm." Jim looked to the door of the crew quarters. "You want the top hammock? I'm sick of sleeping anywhere near him..." Lowering his voice, Jim opened the door.

"Who?"

Sora was answered by Jim pointing to a gaseous, slug-shaped creature emitting various noises that made the Key-bearer grimace. "Mr. Snuff."

"Ohhh..."

It was fairly easy finding hammocks enough for not only them, but for Donald and Goofy when they could come in. Both guys ended up using their jackets as blankets as they got ready to sleep.

"Hey, Jim?" Sora whispered, peering over the edge.

"What?" he asked with one eye open.

"So...what was it you planned on doing when you got back?"

Jim rolled over, putting his hands behind his head. "You're doing stuff for people, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when I'm done, they'll finally see me a little differently."

------

Sora rolled over, barely noticing the light filtering through the grating in the ceiling. It had been the first time in quite some time he had a real bed to sleep in rather than the gummi ship cockpit. Or rather, something closer to a real bed. He yawned and closed his eyes again.

"Land ho!" he heard a voice cry.

"Wha?!" Sora sat up in a hurry, tipping the hammock and falling several feet onto the deck.

"Oooooh..." He rubbed his head. "Wait, land?"

"What?" Donald sprang up in another hammock.

Enthusiasm ran in Sora's veins like sugar in a five year old. "They said, 'Land ho!' We're here, we're really here!" He turned his attention to Goofy, who was asleep in the hammock below Donald. "Goofy! We're here!"

"Huh? Oh, good mornin' Sora," he yawned.

"C'mon up!" He shook him and scrambled up the stairs.

It looked like all of the crew was already on deck, though Sora noted that neither Silver, nor Jim were around. _They're missing out!_ he thought, running to the railing.

The world was near now, close enough to see a wide variety of yellows, oranges and greens, surely from the native flora. Two rings adorned the planet. One looked like typical space debris, the other a glowing green band that looked like part of a nebula. "Woah...!" He was totally oblivious to Donald and Goofy joining him in ogling.

Loud footsteps turned Goofy's head. "Hey, where's Jim goin'?"

"Sure seems to be in a hurry," Donald observed as he slammed the door. "I wonder why?"

A loud whistle alerted the trio to Silver. "Change in plan, lads!" he cried as he switched his cyborg hand to a sword blade. "We move NOW!"

"Huh?" Sora looked to the excited crewmembers. All of the ragged crew were pulling out swords and guns of their own, staring down at both the nearby world and the trio with wicked grins.

"I got a bad feelin' about this." Goofy pulled out his shield as the group began to turn on them.

Sora summoned the Keyblade to his hand, eliciting a few, "Ooooo's" from the group surrounding them. However, from their vantage point, Sora knew that they'd be easily overpowered. "Jim had the right idea! Run!"

"Strike yer colors, Mr. Onis!" he heard Silver shout up to the crow's nest, but with mutinous crewmembers dropping all around him, Sora heard nothing else as they barreled through, leaping up the stairs as a giant, four-armed creature tore into a room that obviously held more guns.

"Let us in! Let us in!" the Key-bearer cried as he pounded on the door to the captain's cabin, holding back enemies. The door opened part way and several hands hauled them though. The captain shut the door and locked it tight again before running to a nearby cabinet.

"Pirates on my ship? I'll make sure they'll see the noose!" She produced an odd-looking gun from the cabinet and armed it.

"Pirates?" Sora cocked his head in interest. "ALIEN pirates?" He grinned with great delight.

"Oh, shut up." Tossing the gun to the Doctor, Amelia asked, "Familiar with these, Doctor?"

As the gun whined, powering up, he replied, "Oh, I've seen--well, I've read that—" But at that the gun fired a bright magenta blast, destroying a globe next to Amelia. "Uh, no, no. No, I'm certainly not." The Doctor looked abashed.

Amelia rolled her eyes as what appeared to Sora as a wad of living pink bubble gum approached a golden orb she was holding with great interest. She tossed the last remaining weapon, a sword and scabbard, to Jim. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, watch the door!"

A sizzle turned heads, as the deadbolt on the door was being burned though. "You three, get ready." Amelia commanded. "Mr. Hawkins! Defend this with your life!" She tossed it gracefully in his direction, but the little pink blob intercepted it in its mouth, flying off with it.

"Morph! Give it here!" Jim grabbed the ball and pried it away from the creature, pocketing it.

"Where do we go?!" Donald squawked.

But Amelia gave no answer beyond action; taking her gun and blasting a hole in the floor, just wide enough for them to slip through to the lower deck. She grabbed the protesting Donald and threw him in.

It was a mad chase after the captain, who dashed though the maze of corridors and stairs with ease. Goofy and Doppler executed the race with amazing awkwardness. The knight managed to slam into the other, making them both tumble down the stairs. As the pirates ran for the door, Amelia pulled them both out of the way to close the door. Amelia pulled out another gun to wield the lock together as Doppler uttered an abrupt "Thank you!"

They were now in the _RLS Legacy_'s hold, where the damaged gummi ship still sat directly above the hatch. "Quickly! Your ship will have to do!" she cried to Sora.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Sora ran with his companions, hopping into the open cockpit just as Amelia threw a switch to unseal the hatch. The hatch slowly opened, revealing the jungle far below. "But I'm not sure if it's good to fly yet! The Auto-Regen--"

"Doesn't matter!" Jim yelled. "Move!"

Amelia did a flip into the increasingly crowded cockpit, arming a laser rifle.

Meanwhile, the little pink blob that had followed them grabbled the orb from Jim's pocket. Morph floated back towards the ship's hold, leaving Jim gawking. "Morph! Noooo!" He leapt out of the gummi ship after the creature.

"Jim!"

"Sora, we've got other things to worry about too!" Goofy pointed to the door as the pirates finally burst through, firing immediately.

Sora held up his Keyblade to deflect the shot, hoping to return their own fire, but Donald beat him to it. "Reflect!" For a breath's moment, a glistening shield of magic protected the ship.

"Keep at it! We need to hold our ground until Mr. Hawkins returns!" Amelia readied her gun as Sora cast the same spell as Donald. "Chew on this you pus-filled boils!" Taking aim, she took several shots at the pirates.

Doppler dared to take a shot, stuffing a finger in an ear as he fired. Some odd tangle of wires and boards fell from the ceiling, crashing through the planking three pirates had been standing on.

Everyone stared at Doppler. "No way you aimed for that." Sora looked at him dubiously.

"Actually, y'know, I did," he said, looking amazed at the gun.

The moment was short-lived, as heavy gunfire made them all take refuge. The sound of gears cranking ended up turning heads.

"Oh, blast it!" Amelia growled, noting Silver was closing the hatch. "Doctor, when I say 'now,' shoot out the forward cable. Donald, if you have a spell that can shoot out the third cable, do it. Sora, Goofy, keep at it and keep a look out for Mr. Hawkins. We've still a few pirates to keep a watch on."

Time was irrelevant, suddenly. Sora was unsure if a few seconds or a couple minutes went by as he waited for the captain to give the signal to the doctor. Shots sizzled through the air or when not blocked by the shield of magic. That is, assuming the lasers didn't eat into the ship's hull.

As he tired from casting spells, he noticed every breath, the pound of every heartbeat in his head. In the haze of battle, a form moved somewhere...

"He's coming!" Sora cried as soon as he spotted Jim.

"NOW!!!"

Two ropes were fired through, and when Donald froze the last one the rope proved too brittle to hold the ship alone. The _Highwind_ was free. Jim caught hold of the side of the cockpit, finding a foothold on one of the flat gummis that comprised the wings.

"I'll get us out of here!" Sora headed toward the controls. He pushed the steering bars forward, and the _Highwind_ launched from the hold out into the world's atmosphere. It skitted along the clouds rougher than normal, indicating imbalance in the aero gummis. The engine sputtered to life with only half its normal power.

And behind them, the _RLS Legacy_ took pursuit. "Look! The ship! It's gonna fire!" Goofy cried.

"Donald, our shields aren't repaired! You're gonna have to—"

"Sora, I can't..."

He looked back, realizing just how exhausted the wizard was. With the supplies elsewhere, he knew he'd have to be the one to cast reflect.

"I'll take the helm." Amelia headed toward navigation as Sora bolted from his seat.

"Laser ball at 12 o'clock!" Doppler shouted, pointing behind them.

"But isn't that the front of the ship?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.

Timing was everything with this spell, and Sora himself was tired. He had one chance, with no time to pull out ether. He watched, concentrating and taking a tight grip on the Keyblade.

The jungle neared below, individual bits of flora becoming distinguishable. He knew poor timing would mean meeting the ground below. He just needed to wait for the right instant...

He could feel it.

"REFLECT!" he cried, a barrier forming as large as he could muster around the ship.

Despite his effort, it wasn't big enough.

The gummi ship jolted, and energy sizzled through the controls. Amelia cried out in pain, holding herself. The cockpit windshield shattered.

Everyone held on for dear life as the captain regained herself, skimming what was best described as trees and finally bursting through one, sending spores flying. The ground welcomed them, and the ship crashed and tumbled before rolling right-side up.

Sora moaned and rolled over in his seat. He wasn't quite sure why his pockets were wet and crunching as he moved.

"Owies...is everybody okay?" Goofy rubbed the bump on his head.

"Present!" Sora looked to the floor to find a weary Jiminy had been thrown from his pocket. The ship sputtered as the Auto-Regen hardware began to kick into gear, and large gloved hands began to mend the wings. Sora immediately noticed how they sputtered and sparked. "Great, the repair system's damaged too. This is going to take forever."

"Looks like everyone's here, at least." Jim twisted his sore neck.

"My goodness." Doppler stood up after straightening his glasses. "That was so much fun, but I think I can do without an encore."

Amelia chuckled weakly as she stood up. "That's not one of my gossamer landings."

"Anything you can walk away from," Sora commented just as Amelia grasped her side and collapsed.

A couple people shouted "Captain!" though it was Jim and Doppler who helped her up.

"Donald, you feel up to casting Cure yet?" Sora asked.

Donald looked at him, annoyed.

"Me neither..."

Goofy looked back at the wrecked gummi ship. "I'll go check the First Aid kit and see if we've got some spare potions." He clambered back behind the cockpit seats.

"Oh, don't fuss," Amelia insisted, yet she fell backward into Doppler's arms. "Slight bruising. That's all." The captain picked herself up again, straightening her hair. "Cup of tea's all I need. I'll be right as rain." She looked to Doppler. "Mr. Hawkins."

The doctor looked surprised as Amelia narrowed her eyes to see him better. Correcting herself, she looked to Jim and said, "The map if you please."

He pulled the orb from his pocket, looking relieved.

"Oh, so that's what that is..." Sora commented. But then, it floated into the air and scrambled to reveal itself as Morph.

"Whoa!" Sora marveled. The little shape-shifter giggled at its prank.

"Morph!" Jim yelled. "Morph, where's the map?!"

The living liquid creature demonstrated by turning itself into a small map and rope and tossing the map into the pile of rope.

"Are you serious?!" Jim was understandably livid. "It's back there still?!" He began to grab for Morph.

An engine whined in the distance. "Man! Now what...?" Sora rubbed the back of his head, made sorer from the crash.

"Restrain that blob and get low." Amelia had caught sight of a solar longboat going overhead. "We've got company."

"Uh, fellas, I've got some bad news," Goofy said as he emerged from the gummi ship's interior. "That crash musta jostled the back real hard, 'cause all of our potions and ethers are smashed!"

Amelia ignored him, more intent on the rest of the situation. "We need a less vulnerable site." She looked for her laser pistol, but sighed when she realized it must have been thrown clear. "We'll need a scouting party."

Jim looked to his sword, obviously preferring a gun. "Aye, Captain," both he and Sora nodded.

"Wait, I'm sure I have some—" Sora reached into his pocket, hoping to find an elixir, but ended up pulling his fingers out immediately. "OW!" Peering inside his pocket, he found glass. He finally realized why his pocket was wet and sticky. "Man!"

Amelia collapsed, barely caught by the doctor. "Steady, steady. Now, let's have a look at that..."

"I'll stay behind and try to help Amelia," Donald said. "You, Jim and Goofy see what you can find. We don't know what kind of creatures live here." The three nodded and turned.

"We'll rest up," Donald said. "Then we can take care of her."

"Be careful." With that, the Key-bearer turned to follow Goofy, Morph and Jim.


	5. BioElectronic Navigation

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 5: Bio-Electronic Navigation**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

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"Certainly some odd plants here..." Sora commented as they trekked through the jungle. Their search had been relatively quiet so far, but somehow that just seemed to unnerve Sora more.

"You're telling me. Wait..." Jim held out his hand. "Did you hear something?" He looked back to find the Keyblade already in Sora's hand and Goofy pulling out his shield. Sora looked ahead to some moving shrubbery.

"What is it?"

A lowly Shadow slid from underneath the bush and rose from the ground.

"There's more," Sora breathed.

"What?!" Jim looked at Sora, drawing his own sword. "Are you kidding me?! How do you know?"

"The Keybl—" He never got to finish his sentence as the foliage shook. "Watch out!"

The plants shook with Heartless, and they began to pour out into the clearing. Jim ducked just as a Soldier Heartless leapt from behind some pod-like plants, the first of several more that tried to surprise them.

It wasn't long before the Heartless streamed over the jungle floor, all focused on the three. An Air Pirate swooped down to deliver a punch, but Sora rolled out of the way. He deflected the scratching claws of a Neoshadow, and ran back and forth to avoid being bombed by the Cannon Guns. He kept reminding himself not to actually kill the Heartless, but just to defend himself against them.

But defense just wasn't good enough...if they didn't defeat all of these Heartless, they'd never get out alive.

Sora gritted his teeth in frustration. He in no way wanted to provide more hearts for the Organization. They were causing so much turmoil, hurting so many people and turning them into Heartless for their own schemes...

Like the one who said they had Kairi.

But how could he and his friends help anyone if they died here?

"Goofy! I'm gonna drive!" he growled, turning to his two friends.

However, Goofy looked exhausted. He wheezed back a simple, "Okay, Sora." Jim, on the other hand, gave him a bizarre look.

Sora was too desperate to care. He grabbed a recovery orb from one of his pouches and reached a hand out to draw in power from Goofy, hoping that just a few moments in Valor Form would be enough to deal with this lot.

But he felt nothing.

Instead of the normal surge of strength from a drive, something thick and cold crept into his clothes. It spread down his shirt, jacket and pants like lightning ink, but didn't stop there. It spread onto his skin, his face, his hair, everywhere—

In half an instant, all sound and feeling died away. Sora forgot about Jim and Goofy, the world, and even the Keyblade that vanished from his hands. But he did remember one thing...

_Enemy...kill!_

He raced towards the gang of Heartless at a terrific speed, almost on all fours. A lowly Shadow crumbled into smoke as he raked his fingers through its form. Then another. And another. He then jumped into the thick of them, where the larger armored and magical Heartless crowded together.

The Heartless moved to attack, but never even got the chance to raise their weapons. Sora slammed his fists into them again and again, sending tendrils of darkness streaking with his motions. As soon as one Heartless dissolved into nothing he spun to another to begin again, his attacks flying faster than anything he'd been able to accomplish in a different form.

As if sensing they could be next, the Heartless began to back away as Sora crushed his way through their ranks. For Sora, there was no feeling or sense of placement, just the thrill of unbridled power as darkness channeled through his hands and slammed into his stunned foes. And throughout his blind rage, the mantra continued in his head:

_Enemy kill enemy kill enemy kill enemy kill kill kill killkillkillkill!_

In what could have been seconds, minutes or hours, the Heartless hordes were completely obliterated. Those that didn't get pummeled into oblivion retreated back into darkness. The jungle fell abruptly silent, leaving Sora in the middle of an empty battleground...and with no enemies left.

Sora spun around, twitching, to where Donald and Jim had watched the entire fight in shocked silence. He just stared back at them with unblinking, yellow eyes; occasionally shifting and twitching as if incapable of staying still.

He took a step toward them, and the knight and cabin boy instinctively raised their weapons. Goofy leaned over to Jim and whispered, "Y-you don't think he'd...hurt us, do ya?"

"How would I know?! We fight these things and then he turns into one of them?!" Morph turned a shade of yellow and dove down the back of Jim's shirt.

Sora couldn't hear their voices anyway. Everything in his vision seemed fuzzy and steeped in deep shadow, and he wasn't sure what to make of these two figures that seemed brighter than everything else.

_Kill...enemy...friend?_

All of a sudden, the mantra died away and the darkness vanished from his veins. The black in his clothes and skin slithered off in tendrils, leaving behind his normal self. He stood rooted to the spot for a moment, dazed as his senses came spinning back to him.

"Sora!" Goofy cried.

Sora wobbled and collapsed onto his knees, sucking in air as if he'd barely escaped drowning. The Keyblade returned to his right hand with a twinkle of lights. Jim and Goofy immediately rushed to his side.

"Are you okay?" Jim asked. He still looked nervous about approaching Sora.

The Keyblade master attempted to get to his feet, but was still trembling. "I...wha...what happened?"

"You tried to drive, remember?" Goofy said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything's all blurry..." Sora groaned as he put a hand to his forehead. Goofy helped him up as he stumbled.

"Okay, now that we finally have a moment to breathe," Jim began, "what on Proteus One were those things?!" He rubbed his neck where a Shadow had scratched him, looking mildly surprised when Morph emerged.

"They're called Heartless," Goofy replied.

"They're creatures that were once human, or...well, maybe alien, too, but that lost their hearts. They're born from the darkness in people's hearts."

Sheathing his sword, Jim looked uncertainly at Sora. "Really..." He still kept his hand tight on the scabbard. Morph provided a dramatization of the creation of the creatures as a little man's heart flew from his body.

"Yeah..." Sora looked off in the distance, narrowing his eyes to focus. "And by the looks of it there are a lot of them here. We'd better be careful if we don't want our hearts stolen."

"Guess I've heard stranger stories."

"Well, believe it, it's true." The Key-wielder held his head.

"Sora, take a load off," the knight suggested, motioning to a nearby rock.

As he took the offered seat, Jim crossed his arms. "Well, considering what just happened, I have to ask..."

In a single quick motion, Jim drew his sword on Sora. "Are you the reason we were attacked?!"

Goofy put his shield in front of his friend. "Not on your life!"

Sora waved his hands. "What?! No way!"

"Then WHAT just happened?" Jim asked suspiciously.

"I-I don't know!" Sora almost yelled. He looked at his own hands. "This has never happened before."

Jim lowered his sword, but kept it unsheathed. "Giant keys, mutiny, creatures attacking...funny, things get weird when YOU get here." He gestured with the blade.

"Chances are the Heartless have already been here," Goofy said. "Or else the Organization brought them..."

"Who?"

Sora continued to stare at his hands. "Another group. Bad guys. Long story."

"Fine. I'll settle for this, then: What WAS it you were trying to do?" Jim paced a little.

"Sora's clothes were given to him by three good fairies. Thanks to their magic, Sora can draw power from friends like Donald or me," Goofy said, pointing a thumb to himself. "Sora calls it 'driving.'"

"You got your clothes from fairies?" Jim looked to the little shape shifter, who molded himself into a miniature Sora donning pink frilly apparel.

Not noticing, Sora mused, "I've driven so many times before..."

"Really. And why do you call it driving, anyway?"

"It drives my body on." He made a fist, flexing his fingers. "It makes me stronger and faster. Just the feeling of the energy forces me on to do what I have to do. My friends drive me on..."

"Really. And you've never turned into a black thing with glowing eyes before?" Jim shook his head.

Sora looked right at him. "No way! Donald and Goofy and I have worked together doing that lots of times before! I mean, even recently, at..." He paused, remembering fighting Demyx. "...when fighting some of those bad guys. When we were together, we drove a lot." He shook his head. "How could the darkness get to me like that? How?!"

Jim squinted one eye. "Okay..." Finally sheathing his sword, he said, "Look, fine, you have a few...issues. But you did defeat those things, and you didn't hurt us, so I guess that means something."

"Means something," Morph parroted and cooed.

"Can you get up?" Jim asked.

Sora stood. "Yeah, I'm just—"

Odd noises and rustling behind them turned heads.

"Again?" Goofy pulled out his shield.

Jim put his finger to his lips, and approached, ready for whatever Heartless might come out of the odd, tubular plants.

When a strange mechanoid creature appeared instead, both it and Jim cried out before the former pounced him.

"Oh, this is fantastic!" the rusty robot shouted as he examined poor Jim, sticking mechanical fingers in his mouth. "Carbon-based life forms have finally come to the rescue!"

Sora's eyes widened when it ran for him. He tried backing up, managing only to trip over the rock he had been sitting on.

The android wasted no time in picking up and embracing Sora. "I just want to hug all of you and squeeze you and hold you close!"

"Hey! Uh--!" Sora struggled as the robot clung to him. "Could you cut it out?!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry." The machine let go momentarily. "It's just...I-I-I've been marooned for, uh, well, quite a while now." He put his metal arm over Sora's shoulder and reached for Jim's shoulders. "Solitude's fine, I'm not really complaining here, but, uh, good heavens, after a hundred years..." He leaned over to Goofy. "YA GO A LITTLE NUTS!" The poor knight fell head over heels at the exclamation.

The machine laughed, brushing dirt off the two young men. "I'm sorry. I am. I am, um... my name's, uh..." He held his head, wracking his mechanoid memory chips.

"Okay," Sora mumbled, but looked on as Morph turned himself into a robot cuckoo clock.

"B.E.N.!" the robot shouted. "Of course, Bio-Electronic Navigator." When he fiddled with the compass on his chest it almost fell off.

"And you are?" He held out a hand to shake for Jim and Sora, and a foot for Goofy, who scratched his head.

"Jim."

"I'm Sora."

"The name's Goofy."

"Aww, I'm sure it is, but really? Your name can't be too silly. Well, pleasure to meet all of you!"

"Look, we're in a hurry—"

Sora stepped up. "We need someplace to hide from the pirates and Heartless—"

"Oh, don't start me on those guys!" he said dramatically. "The Heartless, creepy little guys. They just seem to stare like they don't know what to make of me..."

"_I_ don't know what to make of him," Sora commented as he prattled on.

"Maybe they can't figure out if he has a heart." Goofy shrugged to Sora, who did the same. Jim slowly began to lead them off.

"And pirates! Even worse! I remember Captain Flint. He was so temperamental..." B.E.N. sat down where Sora had been.

"Who's that feller?" Goofy asked.

"Wait, FLINT? You KNEW Captain Flint?" Jim was suddenly intent on B.E.N., approaching him.

B.E.N. sat back. "I think he suffered from mood swings. I'm no therapist, and anyway, but I-- You let me know when I'm rambling, okay?"

"Hey, don't leave us out of the loop! Who's this guy?" Sora crossed his arms.

"No, this is it! It's Flint's treasure we're looking for." Jim was certainly perking up.

And that means..." Jim turned back to the android, smiling. "...You gotta know about it?"

"The-the treasure?" B.E.N. looked clueless.

"Yeah, Captain Flint's trove, the loot of a thousand worlds?" Jim's words were accompanied by Morph transforming himself into a treasure chest.

B.E.N. got up, shorting sounds coming from him. "It's--well, it's...it's all a little-- littlllle--llllittlllle fuzzy."

Jim looked a little disappointed, quite reasonably.

"Wait." He held out his tarnished hands. "I...I re-re-remember." B.E.N.'s eye screens scrambled a moment. "I do, I d--" He suddenly sparked, and the screens changed. "TREASURE! Tons of treasure buried in the centroid—CENtroiD—CenTROid of the mechanism!"

"Is he gonna blow up or something?" Sora commented. Jim shook his head and shrugged, looking just as confused.

B.E.N.'s compass popped in and out. "There was this huge door opening and closing...and opening and CLOsiNg...and Captain Flint wanted to make sure...nobody could ever get to his treasure...so l helped him..."

Sparks flew from the back of his head, and the robot looked pained as his top literally spun. "AAAAHHHH! DATA INACCESSIBLE! Reboot! ReBOOT! reBoOT! ReBoOt!"

"B.E.N...?" Sora grabbed B.E.N. by the shoulders.

"r3b00t!"

"B.E.N.!" Jim finally slapped him hard, obviously as unsettled as Sora and Goofy were.

He settled, asking, "And you are?"

"Wait! What about the treasure?!" Jim waved his hands.

"I wanna say...hmm, Larry, Sara and Goofy."

"Ah-hyuk! He got one of us right!"

"Easy for you to say," Sora snarled.

Jim kept trying. "You said...I guess the--the centroid of the mechanism, or—"

"Sorry. My—my—my memory isn't quite what it used to be. I've lost my mind," he laughed, giving everyone a crazed look. "I've LOST my mind! You guys find it?" He turned to Sora, starting to go through his pockets.

"Hey, stop that!" He pulled a hand out from his jacket. "How could we—"

"Uh, my missing piece?" He motioned to where wires were exposed in the back of his head. "My primary memory circuit?"

"Hey, sorry, but we really gotta find a hiding place," Sora said, still unsettled. "So, um, now it's time to say goodbye to..."

B.E.N. looked crestfallen, eye monitors displaying huge, pixilated pupils. "G-good-bye huh? I'm sorry that I'm so dysfunctional." He got down on his knees, transforming gears and cogs into little wheels. "So, uh, go ahead and...I do understand. I do. I...wish you guys luck...Bye-bye."

"Awww, poor feller..." Goofy commented.

Sora and Morph both gave a pleading look to Jim.

Jim sighed, agreeing. "Look, if you're gonna come along, you're gotta stop talking."

"HUZZAH!" Laughing, the machine sprung to his feet. "Oh, this is fantastic!" he cried, leaping into Jim's arms and pulling the other two over for a group hug. "Me and my posse out lookin' for a--"

Sora chuckled a little, but Jim gave B.E.N. a very cross look.

B.E.N. zipped his lips, whispering, "Being quiet." He hugged Jim's head.

"And you have to stop TOUCHING me."

He leapt from Jim's arms. "Touchin' and talkin'. My two big no-nos. And hey, say, listen, before we go out on our big 'search,' mind if we made a quick pit stop at my place?" he said, making the universal motions for anyone needing to use the bathroom. "Kind of urgent," he laughed nervously. He then hopped over to a dense tangle of vines and trees, and pulled away the foliage to reveal an odd outcropping and an even stranger dwelling of sorts.

Sora smiled. "Jim, I think we don't have a problem anymore!


	6. World of Thorns

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 6: World of Thorns**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kairi was getting sick of the black. She couldn't seem to stay five minutes on a world now without being dragged or shoved or coerced through one of those swirling portals. She almost wished that, when this one dissipated, she would see familiar sandy shores and palm trees.

But when the haze cleared, the trees were thick, sprawling oaks that branched into every corner as only old things could. She shielded her face, allowing her eyes to adjust from the pitch of the dark corridor moments before. The afternoon sun spilled through the foliage; a drastic change from the previous world.

The hooded man's words still echoed in her mind.

_You'll be safe here. I'll come back for you soon!_

How often has she heard that before?

Kairi knew better than to assume anywhere was safe. And she knew better to assume "soon" could be taken literally. She had to take matters into her own hands.

She glanced down at her one constant traveling companion: Pluto, the King's dog. He just smiled up at her, and she scratched behind his ears and felt a little better. "Let's see if we can't find somebody who can help us, huh boy?" Pluto barked in agreement.

Kairi got her first good look at this new world. Behind them stretched an ancient forest, its thick branches cris-crossing each other into a tangled roof of foliage. The eerie chatterings of woodland wildlife echoed back to her.

But far more foreboding was what lay ahead. A twisted wall of thorns blocked the path. The branches looked as thick as the opposing oak trees, and the thorns jutted out like curved scythes. _I know I've seen these thorns before..._

Beyond the thorn forest, at the top of the hill, sat a towering palace. Its walls and turrets looked as if they'd once glistened white in the sun...but the luster was gone, and even from this distance she could feel the heavy air hanging over it.

"Do you suppose there's anybody there?" she asked Pluto. He whined, and backed up a step from the thorns. Kairi agreed...she didn't like the idea of having to fight through this thorny barrier if the castle beyond it was empty. However, their only other option was the woods, and they didn't look any more promising.

Kairi slumped to the ground, feeling useless and hating it all over again. Pluto nuzzled up next to her, silently begging for more ear scratches. She complied, and signed. "Well, we're in a world I've never seen before. Led here by a guy in a black robe who won't show his face. _And_ we're being chased by other black-robed guys who know something about Sora." He paused, and Pluto cocked his head at her. She pounded the dirt path with her fist. "And this wouldn't bother me so much if I felt like I could _do_ something about it!"

The brief lull in her one-sided conversation revealed the sound of approaching footsteps.

Kairi shot to her feet, ready for the worst. If it was Axel again, she wouldn't even give him the chance to grab her; she'd just kick him where it really hurt.

But as the steps came closer, Pluto's ears perked up instead of pressing back in fear.

"Kairi!"

Kairi wasn't sure whether to be relieved or shocked. From the woods emerged a young woman with long blonde locks and friendly eyes. She was dressed in regal attire...the sort of dress most girls wished for when they were little. Kairi couldn't quite place her name, but knew she was familiar...

"It's so good to see you again! How on earth did you get here?" the woman declared.

The name finally came to her. "Princess Aurora!"

The princess smiled with equal relief. "You remembered! I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. I haven't seen any of the others since..."

"So this is your world..." Kairi said quietly, giving the thorn barrier another glance. "I'm glad to see you, too! But I'm afraid I can't really just visit...I...we're kind of in trouble."

Aurora didn't seem surprised. "I don't imagine you'd be here under good circumstances." She gestured back towards the woods. "I've got a place to stay just through here. Come with me, and we can talk about everything."

Kairi looked to Pluto for approval. He wagged his tail, his tongue lolling happily out of his mouth. Feeling better already, Kairi followed Aurora back into the forest.


	7. Scroop

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 7: Scroop**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It didn't take too long before the entire group had relocated to B.E.N.'s home, though since it had been late in the day, sunset recolored the greenery.

"Uh, pardon the mess. Y-you'd think in a century I would've DUSTED a little more. But, you know, when you're bachin' it...things tend to get let go a bit, y'know?" He hid a pair of oversized heart-patterned bloomers that could have come from who-knows-where.

Doppler walked in, carefully cradling Amelia in his arms. He had already bandaged her, and one arm was in a sling.

"How is she?" Sora asked.

"Not too good right now," Donald said, hanging his head. "I need just a little bit longer. She'll make it until then, I'm sure, though. You feeling up to casting Cure yet?"

Sora shook his head. "Before the King's court magician?"

The two smiled a little for once at each other's comments.

"Aw, how charming." B.E.N. commented as Doppler brought Amelia over. "I find old-fashioned romance so touching, don't you? How about..."

Sora looked on, and the words faded into generalities. Sitting down on a root that had worked its way inside the dwelling, he noted Doppler's denial that he and Amelia were a couple, but saw the caring look from Amelia. Doppler cleared his throat, but he wondered if there was something there...

And sighing, he looked out at what he could see outside from where he sat. The colors of the sunset reminded him of one that seemed so long ago, a memory turned nostalgic by long roads. It was still so beautiful in his mind...

It was just him and Kairi, sitting on the dock and looking at the sun reflecting off the water. The island winds had been so soothing he could almost feel them. He remembered talking about Riku, and something occurred to him. She had joked about taking the raft and leaving right then without him...

_"...Just the two of us!"_

He had wondered why she'd want to leave Riku behind then, but that couldn't have been the case. Not with that wording.

And he smiled. She was too nice to leave him behind. With no darkness in her heart, she couldn't. Sora then wondered if she wanted to find something else out from that comment...

If he wanted to be with her.

B.E.N. hopped into the entrance, blocking Sora's view and putting a halt to his reminiscing. "Hey, guys, look! There's more of your buddies." He pointed to the jungle below. "Over here, fellas!"

Sora was the first to get there, pulling B.E.N. down right before Donald launched a few Blizzard spells in retaliation. Or rather, Donald trying to and managing to make a couple of sputters and snowflakes, at his irritation.

"Stop wastin' your fire!" Sora recognized Silver's voice. "Helloooo up there! Jimbo?"

Jim and the trio peeked over the edge of the entrance.

Silver limped over an uprising, having turned his mechanical arm into a cane. Waving a white flag, he called, "If, uh, it's fine with the captain, I'd like a short word wit' ya. No tricks, just a little palaver."

"Come to bargain for the map, most certainly," Amelia scowled, trying to get up. "Pestilential--augh!"

"Captain..." Doppler warned.

"Wait," Sora began. "Doesn't that mean they still think we have it?"

"Which means they think we're that much closer to the treasure." Jim crossed his arms, smiling.

------

"Why couldn't I have gone?" Sora grumbled as he watched the conversation below.

"You know full-well why," Donald said. "Silver asked for him, not you." He gazed out at the quickly-setting sun.

"I guess they were pretty close, once... Hey wait, things are heating up!" Sora pointed. He could only hear the last words at the end, which put the hair on the back of his neck on end.

"...So help me, I'll use the ship's cannons to blast ya all to kingdom come!"

"That can't be good." Sora noted Jim wasn't running, so he wasn't too worried.

Yet.

Instead, the cabin boy turned from the pirates and climbed back into the makeshift tree house. Jim hung his head as he came in.

"What's up?" Sora asked, following as Jim walked toward where Amelia rested.

"He thought I'd trust him again after that..." Jim mumbled. "Okay, here's the deal. If we don't give him the map before dawn, he'll use the _Legacy_'s laser cannons on us. No way to escape, no where to hide, zip."

"Absolutely zip," he sighed.

An awkward silence ensued as darkness took the skies.

More than once Sora heard laser fire during the night. A quick look proved that Heartless were trying to attack the pirates, but they were good enough shots that they were kept at bay.

_Heartless act on instinct, so some degree of self-preservation makes sense, even if they have no sense of self. _

"Gentlemen." Amelia finally said. "We must stay together and..." Her eyes rolled back a little as they closed, her head falling back against the pillow that was Doppler's coat.

"And do what? What?!" Doppler removed his spectacles as he cried out. "We must stay together and what?!"

"Doctor," Amelia smiled up at him. "You have...magnificent eyes."

"She's completely lost her mind!" Doppler exclaimed.

"Well, you gotta help her! One of you here!" Jim looked to Donald and Sora, who shook their heads.

"Dang it, Jim!" he pointed, beginning a string of lively frustrated gestures. "I'm an astronomer, not a doctor. I mean, yes, I a doctor, but I'm not that sort of doctor. I have a doctorate. It's not the same thing. You can't help anyone with a doctorate. You just sit there, useless!" Doppler held his head, looking hopeless.

"It's okay, Doc. It's all right." Jim put his hands on Doppler's shoulders.

"You can't do as much as we could..." Sora sighed, sitting down.

As the Keyblade master, he had taken on so many duties, each of which Sora was quite aware of. He had to save and help people in each world.

Yet, he felt he had done a poor job at that so far. He was too tired to heal someone and he had spent all of his energy on different spells that, in the end, didn't help much at all.

Even more so, he had to protect the world itself.

Sora had little idea what beings, besides themselves, were on this planet, though the markings within B.E.N.'s old dwelling seemed to denote there were people there at one time at least. And nonetheless, there was no evidence of a Keyhole anywhere nearby, and, being trapped here, there was no way to find it. Even worse, he couldn't slay any Heartless without making things worse somewhere else.

B.E.N. walked up with complete optimism. "Don't worry! Jimmy knows EXACTLY how to get out of this." He backed up, following Jim towards the entrance. "It's just Jimmy has this knowledge of things."

"...And we don't?" Donald grumbled to Sora.

"Jim, any thoughts at all?" B.E.N. asked quietly.

The youth looked up at the sky, watching the distance silhouette of the _RLS Legacy_ against the planet's glowing green ring.

"Well, without the map, we're toast," Sora said, gesturing to Jim.

Looking to the pirate's camp, Jim continued the idea. "If we try to leave, we're dead. If we stay here—"

"We're dead. We're dead, we're dead, we're dead!" Morph babbled happily.

"Hush, you—" Donald then processed to catch the little blob.

Jim turned and lowered his head. Sora went over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll think of something. We just got to..."

"Well, I'll just leave you to that so you can brainstorm. B.E.N. laughed weakly. "I'll be out the back door, if you need me." He motioned behind himself.

"Back door?" Goofy asked as Jim ran over to where B.E.N. was rolling over a huge sphere of sorts.

"Oh, yeah," B.E.N. rolled on his back to push it more. "I get this delightful breeze through here. Which l think is important, because ventilation among friends--

"Whoa!" Sora marveled.

"Where does all this lead?" Donald had shuffled his way over and hopped up to take a peek. "Long way down!" he said with his feet dangling.

"Oh, the miles and miles of machinery running through the entire course of the inside of this planet?" B.E.N. asked. "No clue!"

"Guys!" Sora shouted to the others. "This's gotta be a way out of here!" Donald, Goofy, stay here and protect the doctor and the captain!"

"Just what I was thinking," Jim commented.

"No, no. Wait! The captain ordered us to stay—"

Jim had already jumped down when Sora spoke. "Be right back! Donald, rest up!"

"Sora!" Donald shouted, waving a fist.

B.E.N. jumped in after Sora, shouting, "Cannonball!" almost like how he remembered Wakka doing so back at the islands.

Doppler frowned. "Woof."

"You said it!"

------

Getting onto the ship wasn't too hard. Sora had no clue who it was that was on watch, but it seems hey hadn't picked the brightest star in the nebula. They took the pirates' solar longboat with ease, though Sora noticed something was Jim maneuvered the vessel.

"Wait, I KNOW we crashed there!" he pointed. "RIGHT there!"

"Shh! We're getting close." Jim glanced down. "They probably repaired part of it so they could take it back up to the Legacy."

"Wait, does that make our ship a PIRATE gummi ship?"

Jim moaned and directed his attention to the controls, and a soft whine issued from the nearby Grav-Anchor as they floated by.

The longboat approached silently, and Jim, B.E.N., Sora and Morph peered over the railing. When they stepped over, however, B.E.N.'s bumbling took Sora down with him.

"HEY!"

"Shhh!"

"Sorry, Sora, sorry sorry!"

"Okay, here's the plan," Jim whispered as he began to go down the stairs. "I'll get the map. Sora, neutralize—"

"Um, Jim, I just got here last night, remember? I have no—"

"Heard you loud and clear!" B.E.N. spontaneously piped up. "I'll neutralize laser cannons, sir!" At that he wheeled off.

"B.E.N.!" Jim whispered loudly.

But the robot just rolled away, singing. "Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me! A-RUM-da-dum, a-RUM-da-dum...!

"And really bad eggs..." Sora sighed, remembering when he had last heard that song. "If I could just cast Magnet..." With time of the essence, going after him was a moot point.

Jim rubbed his face. "Never mind, you just follow me, then." He motioned, leading the way through another short maze of corridors until they reached the hold.

Sora looked over at the sound of machinery. The _Highwind_ was still at work repairing itself, but it still was in terrible condition. He sighed, trying to take comfort in the fact that it had made some progress, at least.

Gingerly Jim approached a bundle of rope on the planks, his breath suddenly falling silent.

Moving some of the rope aside, he found the golden orb.

Jim breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes," he said, looking to Sora and Morph. "We got it."

As if they had touched some piece of artwork at a museum, alarms began to blare.

"Huh?"

Looking around, Sora knew he had to move, and looked to Jim to find out where to move. He followed Jim up a set of stairs leading to the deck.

"That stupid robot's gonna get us all--" Jim stopped, surprised by something, and Sora had to reel to keep from running into him. "--Killed."

At the top of the steps was the crew member that had given Sora goosebumps earlier. Opening a sharp, crab-like claw, he growled, "Cabin boy. And the new welp."

"Scroop!"

Sora grabbed Jim's arm, who made no hesitation to follow him for once. He summoned the Keyblade immediately.

Jim pulled his arm away, tumbling some barrels as the three raced down the corridor. The alien pursuer proved his spider-like qualities by running onto the wall before traversing the ceiling.

Sora, in turn, hung back slightly and reached up to slash the pipes on the ceiling. Steam sprayed from them with a hiss, and the insectoid creature slowed down briefly to cover his face.

"Take that you oversized lobster!" Sora cried triumphantly.

But it was a bit too soon, as he emerged from the cloud to try take a slash at him. As Sora yelled in surprise, Morph squealed, turning himself into a pie to smash into Scroop's face.

It was enough to make the pirate stop, but just briefly. Sora didn't dare look back, but judging by Morphs muffled peeps bouncing around in the pipes above them, he knew the shape-shifter was safe.

Regardless of the gained distance, Sora knew Scroop was faster than they were. His four arachnid legs were longer than theirs, creating a distinct advantage. Each of their footsteps was but a tick of a clock counting down to being overtaken.

A split came up ahead with a path to the right; a forced decision in a maze with a game of cat and mouse. Sora's eyes widened. "Jim!" he huffed. "Save yourself! If I don't come back, tell the captain I found the map but—"

"Sora?!"

"He wants the map, not you!"

Jim didn't skip a beat. "I'll come back!"

"Just GO!" Sora yelled, taking the opposite turn.

A gruff growl issued from behind him, a sound of frustration from the alien. As the Key-bearer scrambled, the short sounds of heavy, skittering footsteps behind him was a relief to hear. But only slightly.

He glanced around, hoping for anything to use as a place to stand his ground. The sight of stairs would have been wonderful.

That is, if he'd been able to see them. Blackness enveloped him as something vital powered down quite audibly. He tumbled, but got back to his feet in a flash.

A tense couple seconds followed, and he assessed himself, realizing his magic reserves had finally replenished themselves. He knew casting Fire would light up the area, though for all he knew it would also light it ablaze.

Soft, meager noises seemed to come from all around. The standard creaking of wood, the shift of some cargo below...or possibly the sharp but muted footsteps of his opponent.

"Light in the darkness," Sora thought silently, "Light in the darkness..." He took hold of his necklace, mentally chanting it, and concentrating with closed eyes. There was light even in the deepest darkness, something he had learned long ago.

Something clicked, and through his eyelids Sora could see a slight illumination.

The emergency lighting had come on, red light dusting the corridors.

"Hey, it worked!"

A blow to the head greeted his exclamation, and he was sent rolling across the grated floor.

"Welp! You think splitting up will save the cabin boy!" Scroop pounced, and Sora found himself pinned. Only by catching the creature's claws with the Keyblade was he able to ward off the attack.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" he grunted, finding that though he had avoided being sliced, he now found the teeth of his own weapon being forced towards his face.

"I found the longboat. Disabling it was far too easy." He grinned with his strange mandibles, opening and closing his pincers upon the Keyblade in demonstration.

Sora struggled, his arms shaking from the strain. "You—"

But something powered down again, and butterflies ran through his stomach. It felt almost as if he were falling.

He glanced over his shoulder as he felt the pressure of Scroop's strength fade from his back. The floor was moving away.

"What I'd give for a Gravity spell right now," he grumbled as he tore the Keyblade from the befuddled Scroop's claws. With one swing he smashed him against the wall.

Sora smiled in relief, but all too soon. The pirate's long reach returned the favor, and he found himself thrown against the ceiling and through a grating, losing hold of the Keyblade. He opened his eyes to find himself floating into the open air above the deck, and with Scroop floating behind.

The youth flailed, trying to catch hold of anything. Scroop himself grabbed hold of a rope, watching the Key-bearer float towards the riggings.

As he tumbled, Sora saw the approach of the still-open masts, and raked the air with his fingers to catch hold of the edge. He thrust an arm towards the safety of a handhold, finding his grasp inches short. "RAAAUUGH!!" he cried in frustration, watching Scroop scurry up the mast toward him.

The billowing solar sails wafted toward him, and he pawed fruitlessly at them in the vain hope of grasping a fold. Instead he received mild but painful shocks from the energy rippling though the sails, causing him to grimace as he kept trying. Finally a thrashing hand brushed against rope, and he latched on, pulling himself in and wrapping his limbs around it.

Below Scroop was inching his way up the mast seemingly with ease, as nimbly as a spider in its own web. He stared up at Sora with his crosshair pupils. A slight gleam caught Sora's attention, and he glanced to the side to see his Keyblade drifting well out of reach.

Scroop chuckled malevolently as he saw, and he reached the pulley that incorporated Sora's rope. "Do give Mr. Arrow my best."

The Key-bearer paused just briefly. "Wait—then you—" His heart swelled with anger at the realization; the pirate having so much said with so few words. Fire in his veins, he leapt for one of the crosstrees and caught a confident hold on solid wood.

"Your friend will join you soon, Welp!" Enraged, Scroop lunged for Sora, claws ready to cut through him.

Sora leapt forward, ready to meet him. "I don't think so!" Summoning the Keyblade, he defended himself, redirecting his foe's attack to the side and sending him spinning away. Watching for a brief moment, Sora saw Scroop cry out as he tumbled into the void.

But he had a similar problem.

Ropes and sails drifted by, all out of the reach of his fingers. As a final attempt, Sora tried to grab hold with the teeth of his Keyblade, swinging in an effort to snag a rope.

The line slid past.

"No no no no NOOO! MAGNET!" Rope tendrils reached for him, but with Sora drifting away from even the casting point, it wouldn't have mattered if they had been long enough. "AUUUGH!"

Sora had little idea how far the wall of the world was, but he hated to think what it would be like to come in contact with it. Even if he did, would he pass through, and would Interspace be breathable there, he wondered.

He would never find out what happened to Riku.

And he would never fulfill his promise to Kairi...

"Promise?" There was something...

A blast of sound and hot air made Sora recoil as something rushed past. Daring to look, he saw that whatever it was turned around fast.

A longboat.

It pulled up beneath him and he dropped painfully onto the planks. "Jim!" Sora got up, a little bruised, but still took him by the shoulders. "How'd you get it working?!"

Jim gave him a look that communicated, 'Don't touch me,' but replied, "What, the cut wires? How did you—"

Sora sat back, stroking a very relieved Morph. "But Scroop said—"

"Oh, Bright Eyes, figured." Jim rolled his eyes. "I repair my own Solar Surfer on Montressor all the time. Cut the power. Peel back the coating. Tie the wire together. Temporary fix, big deal."

"Wow..."

Jim manipulated the controls. "C'mon, let's get B.E.N."


	8. Treasure at the Heart

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 8: Treasure at the Heart**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Doc, we've got the map! Wake up!" Jumping out of the hole, Jim looked relieved to be back at B.E.N.'s home. The area was dark and hard to see into, but he could distinctly make out a form lying on the ground.

Sora looked around after pulling B.E.N. up. "Donald, were you able to--" He trailed off as he watched Jim's face. A giant mechanical hand reached for the map.

"Fine work, Jimbo," Silver complemented, coming out of the shadows. "Fine work indeed."

Growls from all around alerted the youths to an alarming fact: pirates had surrounded them. One glance behind him let Sora know that Amelia, Doppler, Goofy and Donald had been bound and gagged.

Sora summoned the Keyblade and pulled it back, readying himself for a massive swing into some tentacled pirate. Instead, his weapon was grabbed from behind by a rather repulsive mountain of flesh and torn from his grip.

Jim tried to make a run for it, but was seized just a moment before Sora was restrained. The key-bearer fought as his weapon was thrown to the side, but with little luck. He called the weapon back, but with two massive hands holding back each arm, there was no way to use it. He heard B.E.N.'s distressed voice, but could do little about it.

"So the doctor was tellin' the truth 'boutchya," Silver commented to Sora. "Seems ya do have somethin' real special." He turned to walk over to Jim, tossing the map casually into the air. "You're like me, Jimbo," he taunted. "Ya hates to lose." Smiling, he turned to activate the map, only to find it wouldn't respond. Frustrated, he tried various tools out of his mechanical arm, varying from the most delicate to a vice grip. "What the devil's the..."

Jim smiled, shaking his head before Silver thrust it in his face. "Open it," he ordered, shoving it into Jim's hands. He only stared back with an insolent look.

"Yer forgettin' there's more than one person who can open 'tings, least accordin' to the good doctor." Silver looked back, eyeing the Keyblade.

Sora gave Doppler an annoyed look, but replied, "Yeah, right. Besides, there's no lock on it, I don't think it would even work that way."

"Well, then..." Silver switched his metal hand for a pistol, looking first to the others and then back to Jim. "I'd get busy."

Jim glared back, but with an astonishing lack of effort, he pushed a couple buttons and twisted the sphere a couple times. It powered up, and a flood of blue-green and yellow sparks flew from it, forming a brilliant model of the planet itself above their heads.

"Whoa..." Sora marveled, illuminated in green.

Silver grinned in awe. "Oh, powers that be, would ya look?"

The planet dissolved and formed a brilliant trail of emerald designs that traveled out the entrance. Orange pulses traveled along it to show the way. Silver ran to the door to watch.

He laughed before ordering, "Tie 'em up. And leave 'em with everyone else 'till we get—Wha?" Suddenly, his road to glory devolved back into sparks, flying back to Jim's grasp on the map.

"You want the map?" Jim asked after he closed the device. "You're taking me with you."

Silver snarled, his cyborg eye glowing red a moment before cooling back to yellow. He shook his head and smiled, ordering, "We'll take 'em all."

------

Sora pulled at his bonds, but only felt the pain of the ropes on his wrists. He gritted his teeth, less than happy to be held at sword point. With hands tied, it was pointless to summon the Keyblade.

Even so, he couldn't help but feel particularly uneasy. Though none could keep up, they sped past a rather disturbing number of Heartless. Their ranks desperately needed to be diminished.

Something was very wrong.

He looked on, noticing Jim had a similar expression to his own as the young man watched the green path they followed. The longboat sped along just above the surface of the world, slipping through air smooth as glass.

"Fine mess this is," Donald grumbled, but glad his gag had been removed. His staff had been taken, and since they apparently knew what he was capable of, his hands were just as tightly bound. Goofy's bonds weren't as bad, though just because they were less involved did not mean they were carelessly done. He looked to the back of the longboat where his shield had been tossed with Donald's staff. "Gawrsh, think we're gonna find th' treasure?"

"I wish I knew..." Sora sighed, shaking his head.

"Pst!" A soft voice came from Sora's pants pocket. Sora looked down to see Jiminy looking quite pleased with himself. He had managed to sneak out of the jacket hood to where the potion bottles had been crushed. The cricket held up a shard of glass Sora had missed when shaking out his pockets. Though small, to Jiminy it was the size of a sword.

Sora bit his lips hard to keep from smiling, and looked away as he felt little shoes make their way to his bonds.

Sheer speed of the craft, however, cut the escape attempt short, since they reached an overgrown area where the longboat could no longer follow the trail. Luckily, it also seemed to be free of Heartless here. Jiminy ducked into the safety of a pocket when the longboat stopped. Still, the bonds were loosened because of the cuts.

Perhaps notably so. Most of the pirates disembarked, and Sora smiled, as one was left on the boat. _If there's only one_—

Sora's thoughts where cut short as a tentacled pirate pulled him overboard by his hood. Landing with a thud and gasping to regain the wind knocked out of him, Sora was hauled to his feet. "Considering you're pretty close to the boy, you'd make some good leverage," the pirate sneered into his ear.

"Goodie," he moaned, wishing he could rub his shoulder. A sharp prick against his back alerted him to the pirates' sword urging him on. He heard some exclamation up ahead about someone named Lupe, but paid it little heed in comparison to his attention to Silver.

The cyborg paused in awe, turning to say, "We're near, lads, I can smell the treasure!" He thrust a triumphant sword-arm in the air before grabbing Jim by the shirt and pulling him through the trees. Of course, the sword at Sora's back was just as persuasive. Silver slashed though the foliage with an indomitable smile before the path opened.

To nothing.

"It just...stops?" Sora asked. Before them stretched the edge of a cliff, with nothing beyond but an unthinkable drop. The map's green trail ended at the cliff like a cut lifeline.

"Where's the treasure?"

"I see nothing--!"

Protests rose from the pirates as the air began to seethe with unease.

"Jimbo, what'd ya do?" Silver demanded in a voice that made the elusive Morph flinch.

"Nothing!" His fingers tried to manipulate the orb, but to no avail. "It just closed, it won't open anymore!"

A bizarre sailor with two arms for her legs pounced Jim. "This boy was a waste!"

The youth fell, and Silver urged, "If I were ya I'd be fast 'bout getting that going 'gain!" Sora began to pull at his bonds as threats of death and disembowelment ran through the crew. His heart raced as he felt strands popping and the ropes bite his skin.

A whine stopped them all, and a pattern of yellow-green light rippled through the earth like a shockwave from where Jim lay. As he stood, a green globe rose from where he'd apparently planted the map. Sora dared to step forward to get a better look at the sphere he was reaching for, but paused as the air rumbled. Far below, the distant earth lit up. Trails of light journeyed from seemingly all corners of the world, meeting at the base of the clip and shooting upward like some magnificent golden firework. It paused, mid-air, and its green contrail parted at the cliff edge.

Before Sora laid an image of the most beautiful image of Interspace he'd ever seen. "Whoa...!"

Even Silver marveled. "Mercy!"

Jim was more astonished than in awe. "The Lagoon Nebula?"

"Can't be, 'tis half-way 'cross the galaxy," Silver replied with a mechanical finger to his chin.

"Wait, that's REAL?" Sora asked, uneasy. He could feel the Keyblade desperately wanting to be summoned. _Probably because of all the Heartless_. "How do you know that's not just a display?"

Jim was silent a moment, looking down at the green globe again. "'A big door—'" he mused, putting a finger to an image in the glowing sphere. A set of green bars concealed the image, and then revealed another like a set of curtains. Before them was now some strange civilization with magnificent floating cathedral-like structures. "'—Opening and closing.'"

Sora just stared. "Coooool."

"Okay," Jim thought, looking at the sphere's controls. "Kyan Abyss. Montressor Spaceport," he smiled, pressing a small image.

An inhabited crescent moon was revealed, much to Jim's intrigue. "So that's Flint's little trick! He roamed the whole universe with these portals—"

"Looting ships?!" Sora smiled.

"Exactly!" Jim marveled, pushing another halobutton.

Silver impatiently shoved Jim aside. "But where'd he stash it all?!" He began to search the portals like a child flipping through television channels, revealing a multitude of beautiful and beastly worlds. "Where'd he put that blasted treasure?!"

B.E.N. gripped his metal head. "Treasure!" He pulled his wires like hair. "It-it's buried in—"

"The centroid of the mechanism, you said," Sora said. "What mechanism? Whatever this display thing is?"

Jim rubbed his chin. "Maybe...maybe the planet, what's making the display, what is holding all this machinery, IS the mechanism? Then the treasure's at the planet's core!"

After a brief pause, several pirates grabbed tools and ineffectually began to dig.

"And how in blue blazes do we get there?!" Silver demanded, continuing to push buttons.

It was Jim's turn to push Silver aside. "Just open the right door."

When his finger touched the image of Treasure Planet itself, the portal changed, revealing a warmly-lit space filled with complex machinery. Jim stepped forward, placing an arm though the portal, which swirled and sparked green and yellow at his touch. He stepped through, examining himself to make sure he was all still there. Morph popped out of Jim's pocket, which he seemed to be using as a refuge when needed. Intent, Silver followed, stepping ahead.

"Move it, boy!" The pirate persuaded Sora again with his sword, but that did not deter Sora from the wonder of stepping though. Besides the small lightshow the portal provided, there was sensation, though subtle. His skin tingled faintly upon contact, and any part divided from his torso, from his heart, felt slightly cold for a brief moment. He looked down to examine himself.

The first thing he noticed was a red laser at his feet, and he cocked his head as others stepped through with no harm. Still, a distant sound beneath his feet bothered him. "Hey, guys? Does anyone hear that weird beeping?"

That, too, fell on deaf ears, and for good reason. The group gawked at what laid before them, and Silver looked in utter awe. "The loot of a thousand worlds!"

Stretching out ahead seemed like a planet itself of every precious ore Sora could have imagined, and others he'd never dreamed of. The horizon curved ahead of them, showing the sheer mass of the spoils. Technology kept it floating separate from the mechanism of planet, and giant amethyst beams shot into crater-like holes around the edges of the chamber. Inside each hole lay a massive energy core. The acres of doubloons seemed to form waves, decorated with scattered ornate chests and dusted with precious gems that glistened brilliantly under the warm lighting. Riding the waves was an occasional boat, just as loaded as the crests they floated upon. Crowns and jewelry sparkled in such a glorious manner Sora knew wearing it could endow anyone with the essence of royalty. He even eyed several necklaces he wanted dearly to give to Kairi.

B.E.N.'s stuttering broke into his thoughts. "Y'know, I-I just can't shake this feeling. It's like deja vu but w-with the bonus of impending—"

Jim interrupted B.E.N., looking towards one of the gold-laden boats. "Guys, while they're not watching; let's get out of here, and with a little something extra."

Sora looked back towards the mutinous crew, and watched Silver fall to his knees in wonderment. He thought about what B.E.N. said. "Don't worry, B.E.N., it's not just you; something about this isn't right. Jim, what about Amelia and--"

"Don't worry, the last thing Meltdown will expect is another ship, especially considering his bulk compensates for his brain."

Sora nodded to Jim and pulled at his bonds, feeling slight pops until they slid loose. "Nice work, Jiminy," he said softly. Morph, noticing Sora trying to loosen his bonds, offered his services as a pair of scissors, but cooed delightedly when Sora showed he had freed himself.

Immediately he summoned the Keyblade, trying to discern what was going on, but it seemed confused itself. The area seemed to have massive concentrations of both light and darkness, so strong he felt it resonate within him.

"Y'know, I can't--it's so frustrating, there's something at the back of my mind that's really pesky, and...and I just can't seem to figure out what it is," B.E.N. insisted.

"Oh, I know, I hate it when that happens," Sora replied, climbing onto a large, empty ship after Jim, who looked a little surprised his hands were free. Looking to Morph provided him no answer, as the little creature just smiled.

"No-no, it's worse," he continued as the two hauled him up, missing what was said. "Like a song getting stuck in your head, like 'It's a small—' Yeeeeahhh!" He cried out as he tumbled over backwards, and Sora and Jim looked over to see what had caused the scare.

A rotted corpse greeted their sight. It sat at the helm of the boat, still dressed in its original pirate clothes. The pirate apparently had one golden tooth, but that wasn't nearly as impressive as the six eye sockets. In its hand, it held what appeared to be part of a broken gadget, with snapped wires dangling from it.

"Flint?!" Jim murmured.

"In the flesh!" B.E.N. paused briefly. "K-kinda, except for skin, or organs...or anything that-that-that resembles flesh."

"Whoa!" Sora peered closely at the bizarre skeleton. "So, this is the guy? THE guy?" He looked to Jim, who seemed more interested in the broken machinery in Flint's boney grasp. "Hey, that looks kinda like it would fit into..."

Jim tore the death-grip fingers away from the gadget with a sickening crunch, and Sora took hold of the object.

"My mind. Thrown away somewhere! What a terrible thing to waste!" B.E.N. despaired melodramatically.

"B.E.N., we just found the waste basket!" Sora announced, running over to put a hand on the robot's shoulder to steady him.

"Aww, I didn't think you cared," he said looking back, until he caught on to what Sora was trying to do. "Wha-what are you doing? This isn't a practical joke, is it? Because—"

Sora, in typical ignorance of complex hardware, slammed the piece into the back of B.E.N.'s head.

"Whoa!" B.E.N.'s eyes flashed. "Impr0p3r hArD b-b-boot detected: Processing." His head spun, literally, for a moment as his eyes momentarily displayed lines of binary code. "Y-y'know, that slam to the head reminded me of when--wait. Reminded!" He spun around with such a contagious excitement even Jim looked thrilled. "Huzzah! My memories! It's all coming back to me, the true coding! Even when Captain Flint pulled my primary memory circuit so I couldn't blab about the booby trap!"

A shock rattled their footing as the sounds of energy began to crackle above.

"Great, speak of the Sea Devil," Jim muttered.

"Flint didn't want anybody to steal his treasure so—"

"We get it, B.E.N., how do we turn it off?!" Sora cried, looking around. He ran to the boat's railing, leaning over to watch green energy clusters form over the entire curved ceiling. The clusters spread out, forming portals like the one they had entered through.

And to his horror, Heartless began to pour though. The warm glow of the chamber melted, and darkness and explosions followed.

"Run for your lives! Abandon centroid!!!" B.E.N. cried dramatically, not answering Sora.

The Keyblade master continued to watch as the gravity of the situation hit him hard over the head. Heartless swarmed into the craters, jumping into the energy beyond.

The need for the Keyblade earlier, the confusion now...

_I've passed beyond the world's door,_ Sora realized with shock, _and now the Heartless are flooding the heart of the world!_

_I've failed._

"The both of you get everyone freed and leave in five whether I'm there or not!" Jim yelled and slid beneath the control panel, messing with circuits.

"No way, Jim!" Sora protested, pulling Jim out by his feet. "If you stay here you'll be turned into a Heartl—"

Jim, holding two sparking wires, glared at both him and the anxious B.E.N. "I know what I'm doing."

"I know Heartless, Jim, and—"

Jim pulled away to work more. "And Amelia and Doppler know even less, and if your friends are still tied, they need you NOW."

Sora pursed his lips in frustration, but said, "Okay, watch yourself!"

------

"Hey, uh, Donald, ya hear that rumble?"

Donald frowned at him. "Now's not the time to be thinking about food, Goofy." He shifted his webbed feet so he could turn to look around, still quite a feat since he was still bound. It allowed him to see Amelia and Doppler, who were on the other end of the longboat.

"No, I mean the ground below us was shakin'!"

Donald didn't seem to be listening to him, but just sighed, and watched Amelia and Doppler talk. The forest was fairly quiet, despite the sounds of distant Heartless. "At least I managed to get a Cure spell started before the pirates stopped me..."

"Nonsense. Truly, you have been helpful." Amelia replied to Doppler softly, who was bemoaning his uselessness. Still, anyone who paid attention to the way her ribs moved would see she was still in some pain.

"Oh, I'm just hopeless. A sad collection of meager musculature..." He brought his hands to his face, only to realize that he'd gotten his hands to his face at all. The ropes had been loose. "...with abnormally thin wrists," he said in amazement.

Goofy spoke up in surprise. "Wow, Doctor Doppler, you're—YEE-ahhh!" Donald quickly put a stop to Goofy's blabbing by scooting him right off the wooden bench.

The doctor was quick to put his hands behind his back as the obese pirate guard turned around with a dull expression. "Ah, now that I have your attention, mind if I ask you a question?" he asked.

A vulgar noise from the guard was his only reply.

"Well then, considering your bulk, are you compensating for your lack of a brain?" Doppler mocked. Everyone else's eyes widened in astonishment.

"Don't antagonize him!" Donald cried.

The pirate thought a second before becoming irate. "I gonna clobber you somethin' good!" He took a flabby hand and seized Doppler by his collar, raising a fist.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure, I'm very sure, but I have another question for you." Doppler pulled out a pistol, whining as it charged up. "This belong to you?"

The pirate looked down in dim shock, and little else.

"Okay, here's yet another question. Do you want to untie us and let us tie you up?"

The pirate nodded slowly.

"Way to go, Doctor!" Donald exclaimed as the defeated pirate began to undo his bonds.

A familiar robotic voice interrupted the escape. "Guys! Guys, we're here too--!"

"Shhhh!!!" A clang echoed.

The magician hopped from his seat to the edge of the longboat. Sora was futilely trying to stifle the indiscreet B.E.N. "Sora, you're just in time!"

"Yee-up!" Goofy continued. "Doppler got us outta this mess!" He thumbed back to where Amelia was busily tying the ropes around Meltdown.

Sora immediately dropped any attempt to be stealthy, grabbing B.E.N. and tossing him onboard. "We've got a bigger mess to worry about," he said quickly, trying to hide his pangs of guilt. "Flint set a trap. The world is being destro--!"

He was cut off as panicking pirates ran up, looking quite surprised to see their method of escape had been taken over by their captives.

Sora summoned his Keyblade. "You get on, we tie you up, no hassles, we rescue you, got it?"

They didn't even hesitate. The moment they leapt aboard, they offered their hands, claws and tentacles. Amelia jumped into the pilot's seat, and her eyes grew wide as the ground shook below.

"See, I wasn't hungry, Don—"

"Where's Jim?" Amelia asked in a forceful tone, grabbing the controls.

"He said if he wasn't back in five minutes to leave—" Sora paused as the ground suddenly roared.

"Doesn't matter, by my clock we have three minutes and fifty-seven seconds before we're wiped off the treasure map!" B.E.N. had popped out his compass in a surprisingly coordinated way, doing calculations.

The moment everyone was aboard, Amelia wasted no time in sending the longboat blasting away at full tilt, leaving its occupants falling head over heals. "Please don't stand in the boat, lest you care to capsize it!"

"Aye-aye, Captain," Sora saluted weakly.

Sora had little idea just how fast they were moving, but how his hair moved, not to mention how ruffled Donald's feathers were, gave him an idea. They came up on the anchored _RLS Legacy_ fast, and Sora was grateful the hold's door opened automatically, as they might have crashed into it. The docking was quick and efficient.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy, secure the longboat," Amelia commanded. She tried to stand, but was still a bit hurt. "Doctor, get me to the helm!"

"Yes, Captain!" Doppler answered, and, with B.E.N.'s help, made way to the deck.

Though far from tidy, the trio finished tying the ropes quickly. As they ran up the stairs, they felt the ship jolt as it moved awkwardly.

"What's going on?!" Goofy exclaimed, flailing his arms to keep his balance.

"I'm guessing Amelia isn't driving this boat!" Donald squawked.

"What was your first clue?"

Sora stumbled as the ship started a sudden decent. Crawling onto the deck, he saw Amelia sitting behind Doppler, who was at the helm. Nearby was B.E.N., busy calculating.

"I've only read about this, Captain, I'm not sure if—" Doppler stammered, inexperienced in "spacing."

Sora steadied himself and ran to the railing, seeing the approaching ground and the jade portal at the edge of the cliff below.

Two figures leapt from the green-sparking wedge, and Sora could tell it was Jim and Silver. "They're out! Jim's okay!" he hollered. "Bring her down, Doctor!"

"Howdy, Jim!" B.E.N. yelled as the ship lowered. "Don't dilly dally, we've got two minutes and thirty four seconds till planet's destruction!"

As Sora began to reach out to them, he heard Amelia cry, "Doctor, doing fine, well, for now. Ease her over gently, GENTLY!" The Key-bearer recoiled as the ship broad-sided the cliff Jim and Silver stood on before reaching again. He grabbed hold of Jim and pulled him over, and the two together hauled up Silver. Morph sped up to meet them.

"Let's get going, Metal Man," Amelia ordered B.E.N. as she rose to her feet, clutching her side.

"Aye-aye!"

Sora looked over the side, his heart feeling sick. Explosions of fire and darkness issued from the earth in intricate patterns much like he had seen on the map. From each explosion he could see Heartless emerge like frenzied sharks at the water's surface. They were everywhere, surely on their way from and to their feast upon the world's heart.

"...I should have done something," Sora murmured, still in shock.

Silver leaned over the stair's railing as Jim did. "Captain, y'are truly our salvation, comin' like an angel in flight to—"

"Put aside that waste of breath for your judge," she warned.

That suddenly became a more unlikely possibility. A large flying Heartless, which looked like a Wyvern, suddenly tore through two masts. The crosstree came crashing down, smashing laser cannons and railing alike in a brief but fiery chaos. Those aboard scrambled to get out of the way, and Donald narrowly avoided being crushed beneath a falling cannon.

Sora was thrown against the deck from the blast. His head shot back up as he heard the engines power down.

B.E.N. calculated furiously. "Missile tails immobilized, Captain! Thrusters at thirty percent of capacity!"

Doppler grasped the wheel harder. "Thirty percent?! That means w—" He stopped, looking to all and then to Amelia. "We'll never clear the planet's explosion."


	9. Solar Surfing

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 9: Solar Surfing**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

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Doppler grasped the wheel harder. "Thirty percent?! That means w—" He stopped, looking to all and then to Amelia. "We'll never clear the planet's explosion."

Sora's eyes went wide. _All this, because of me._ He looked to Donald and Goofy, who had expressions of shock similar to Amelia. The Key-bearer noticed as Goofy watched something, and turned to see Jim running for the rail.

"...Jim?" Goofy asked. They watched the youth take note of their broken surroundings.

"We gotta turn around!" he shouted, jumping over the railing of the bridge.

"Huh?"

"What?!" Amelia spoke Sora's thoughts aloud.

"There's a portal!" Jim yelled as he ran across the deck.

"And it could get us outta here!" Sora exclaimed, realizing what he meant.

"Yes, but, uh, excuse me, but it currently opens onto a _raging inferno_!" Doppler shouted, questioning the boy's sanity.

"We'll just open a different door!" Jim called back, pulling a part of the demolished laser cannon apart.

Everyone else looked to Sora.

He blinked. "What?! Look, I have no clue which places it can go, let alone what's safe! Does EVERYONE assume that since I have a Key, I can open anything?!"

They all continued to stare.

"Oh...right."

"No!" Jim came, still working. "You spacers are from somewhere else, _I'm_ going to change it!"

"Captain," Doppler began to protest, "Especially with those creatures, there's no way he could possibly—"

"Listen to the boy!" Silver reproached, coming down the stairs.

B.E.N.'s eye displays were countdown clocks. "One minute, twenty-nine seconds 'till planet's destruction!"

"Jim, what do you need?" Silver asked, sliding to his knees.

"Some way to attach this." The youth exclaimed. He had a huge piece of metal and some part of the laser cannon shaft, both mechanisms still hot from the explosion. "And a lot of luck getting through the Heartless," he said under his breath.

"Stand back, now, stand back!" Silver cried. Converting his arm into a wielding torch, he used his muscle to put the two together, starting a rain of blue sparks. He and Jim lifted it together, apparently instantly cool from the specialized torch Silver used.

Sora hesitated for just a moment. "...Let me go, too!" He ran up, Keyblade in hand and hauling over pieces of another cannon.

"No, I--!"

"If you go now, it's suicide!" He cast a ring of fire around himself in an effort to imitate Silver and melt the metal, taking note of what was wielded where. "Fire, Heartless, either way, you're toast!" He struggled to lift the newly-made contraption, but pulled his hand away when it burned. Donald was quick to cast an amazingly even Blizzard spell, careful enough not to crack the fresh weld.

"Have you ever solar surfed?! You're the one—"

"I've skateboarded, good enough, right?"

"Just let 'im flank you!" Silver ordered, immediately parroted by Morph as they slid the makeshift solar surfer over the rail. "There ya go..." he said as Jim hopped on.

Donald and Goofy came to Sora's aid, doing the same. "Up she goes!" Goofy slid it forward on the edge of the broken deck.

"You'd better come back!" Donald warned.

Sora smiled slightly at that. "I will."

"Okay, now, no matter what happens," Jim yelled, looking to Silver, "keep this ship heading for the portal!"

"Fifty-eight seconds!" B.E.N. interrupted.

He looked pleadingly at Silver, who pursed his lips in worry. Jim looked pained and glanced away, knowing what he had to do. Steadying himself, he stomped on a lever Sora quickly realized was once part of the cannon trigger, sending him shooting off in a blast of heat and light.

Praying he had done it right, Sora balled his fists and stepped on the "gas." When he blasted off, he reeled, trying instantly to grab the metal board to steady himself.

Skateboarding was only the beginning.

Stomping on the accelerator, Sora chased after Jim, who seemed to have to keep restarting his sputtering booster. Laser cannons weren't the best rockets; that was clear.

The Key-bearer stood and summoned the Keyblade, using that to help balance himself. The contraption was unlike anything he had ever used. Like a skateboard, balance was key, and it reminded him a little of tree-surfing back with Tarzan, and riding Carpet. Unlike Carpet, though, this wouldn't try to catch him if he fell.

And it seemed as if that would be very easy to do. Flying debris was everywhere, much of it nearly as large as the _RLS Legacy_ itself. The immense number of Heartless swarming both the ground and skies didn't help things.

Finally he got alongside Jim, who seemed to handle the board as an extension of his very heart, body and soul. He skimmed off of crimson-lit debris and rolled to avoid Heartless that Sora was forced to strike down. He was utterly shocked when Jim simply blasted right through the hole of a Darkside Heartless's chest. Biting his lip, the Keyblade master pushed ahead, removing darkness wherever it appeared, albeit awkwardly.

A huge swarm of what seemed to be Air Pirates fluttered towards them, darkening the way ahead. Sora realized he'd avoided slaying these Heartless earlier, when they'd first been attacked. He concentrated, focusing his balance and power and slashed his way through. But when the Heartless parted, Sora's veins ran with shock.

An enormous chunk of the world's metallic surface came hurtling through space directly at him. Knowing there was no way he could break through it, he held up his hand and he tried to swerve.

Something slammed into him hard, the sound of metal against metal echoing through the surfer as he held on for dear life. The board went flying in the opposite direction, and he struggled to keep it under control. As soon as he was steady again he glanced back, shocked that he'd avoided actual collision with the wall, and saw Jim right ahead.

"Stay focused!"

Sora blinked, still shaky, but re-summoned the Keyblade. Jim was right.

Hot wind raced past, and Sora gritted his teeth as he quickly caught up. He took note of Jim, and the two began to weave back and forth. Clouds of Heartless frothed on all sides, and Sora pulled ahead to slice through them. Anything that got past him, Jim avoided with ease. When more walls of metal rose to stop them, Jim sped in front, running the underside of the board along the wall's intricate surface. Learning fast, Sora did the same, gold sparks flying behind them until the wall ceased its assault and they slid free.

Then Neoshadows leapt into view, eager to jump from the escalading landscape onto their prey. Sora pulled ahead again, slashing through as firework-like explosions burst from the planet's surface.

A sound stopped behind him as he fought, breaking his concentration. He looked down to see an approaching ravine, lit below by fiery energy and shadowed by seething hoards of Heartless, all at the heart of the world.

The thumping sound of Jim stomping continually on the accelerator burned in Sora's ears, and he looked over his shoulder to find his comrade falling. "No, NO!!!" Jim cried somewhere between desperation and rage as his booster refused to re-ignite.

Sora grabbed hold of the front of the board to shift his weight and dived after him, sliding past Heartless rather than using a precious half-second to defeat one. His mind raced, highly doubting two people could manage on one surfer, and praying the booster would fire.

"...Fire?"

Sora's eyes grew wider as Jim began to eye the wall. "Hold on!" Diving right behind, Sora concentrated with all his power. "FIRE!"

Flames engulfed him and the end of the booster, which lit immediately.

Jim threw a determined hand on the front of the board and leaned back, tilting the surfer upward to blast straight up. Sora followed, racing side-by side. Above, the _RLS Legacy_ sped over them, and they were quick to catch up. B.E.N.'s frantic countdown could be heard as they shot past. Every breath, every heartbeat was time needed. Sora zoomed ahead, clearing the way, his skin burning from the heat and muscles searing with the pain of near overexertion. As he sped past the green display, he glanced back to Jim, who reached out to it.

Sora closed his eyes and shielded himself with the portal straight ahead. A massive explosion headed towards the entrance.

------

Quiet.

The Etherium held its immense silence effortlessly, faint nebulas slinking along the stars in the blue-black void.

Suddenly, green energy ripped through space, and parted to reveal the destruction of a world. Riding before the conflagration tore a great vessel and two individuals surfing ahead.

Cries of celebration and the elation of being alive seemed to echo through the cosmos. Jim performed a few stunning swerves from the sheer thrill of it, and Sora spun his Keyblade in victory. The latter dropped back as Jim turned back to the ship, which was filled with joyous cries and dances, especially on Donald and Goofy's parts. Sora even cast a Blizzard spell high into the air, showering the ship with glittering ice crystals before they floated away into the void.

Silver held out his hand for a five as Jim began to approach, and Sora's friends were quick to follow. Sora laughed out of relief and delight as he went down the line himself.

"Didn't I say the boy had greatness in 'im?" Silver cried with a victorious fist, beaming at Jim. Morph celebrated with his own firework display.

"Ya also said Sora 'had somethin' real special,'" Goofy pointed out.

"Aye, that I did, and he did a fine job, he did!"

The two dismounted from their makeshift surfers, Jim sliding along the rail and letting his fly away.

Jim held up an open palm with a smile. "You save me, I save you."

Sora did the same, and the two clapped hands together. "We made a pretty good team!" He looked to his friends, old and new. "We all did!" he said, holding out his hands before being besieged by an army of licks from Morph. He dipped down to admire Sora's keychain before Amelia approached, at which point he went back to Silver, who stood proudly on both natural and artificial legs alike. Jim smiled by the stairs with his hands in his coat pockets.

"Unorthodox, Mr. Hawkins, but..." Amelia began, "...ludicrously effective. I'd be proud to recommend you to the Interstellar Academy, especially with the merits you've shown today." She turned to Sora. "You seem to demonstrate promise, and if you'd like as well--"

Sora waved a hand. "Thanks, but no need, Ma'am. We already have our mission."

"Wait until your mother hears about everything!" Doppler exclaimed to Jim. "Of course, we'll have to downplay mention of anything death-defying, though." He toned down his volume and waved a hand.

"Guys..." Sora turned to see B.E.N. behind them. "That was UNFORGETABLE! I know you don't like touching...but get ready for a hug, 'cause l just gotta let it out!"

Sora was amazed by the robot's reach, managing to grab both him and Jim. The Key-bearer stood there, flustered and not sure how to respond. Jim, though, to his surprise, snatched the android in a hug of his own, spinning him around until he caught him in a headlock.

"Hey, you hugged back!" B.E.N. said, wiping away an oil tear. "Oh, I promised myself I wouldn't cry." With that, B.E.N. began to weep on Jim's shoulder, and Jim smiled and patted him on the back.

Sora smiled. Despite his failure, they had managed to pull through. He knew that no matter what the Organization was planning, worlds were still at stake. _To protect a world's heart from darkness is to protect the hearts of its people. That helps there be less Heartless to slay and aid Organization XIII._

Sora put his fingers to his temple and looked to the side to Silver, only to find he wasn't there.

"Does anyone have a 'tiss-you?'"

Jim let B.E.N. go, who obliviously began to cry on the railing. Despite all of the excited banter, Goofy still noticed the two boys walking towards the stairs below deck. "Sora?"

"We'll be back in a moment. Just seeing where someone got to."

------

Talking quietly in the ship's hold, Silver admonished Morph for chattering. "Morphy, we can't get caught now. I know, I know, ye don't wanna leave."

"You never quit, do you?" Jim asked, leaning on a beam above them.

"Ah, Jimbo! And Sora, my lad! Was just checkin' to make sure the last longboat and your ship were safe and all," he said, holding the longboat's rope in one hand and giving the repaired gummi ship an encouraging pat.

"Mmmm," Jim considered, putting fingers to his lips. "Well..." he said, tying a proper knot in the rope holding the longboat, "that should do it."

Silver chuckled softly. "I taught ya too well."

Jim looked back smugly, and Sora couldn't help but smile too. They both knew better.

"If ya lads don't mind," Silver continued, speaking with hand beside his mouth to the youths, "we'd just as soon avoid lockin' up Morphy, he's..." The cyborg took Morph on his real finger. "Little Morph's a free spirit." At that the little creature zipped and spun with unparalleled energy for a moment, but when he stopped, Silver took him in his hands, his metal fingers becoming prison bars. "Bein' caged. Well, 't'would break his heart."

Sora's face fell. Indeed, Silver had done some terrible things, but it seemed at the end he had found it in himself to help out. And somehow, Jim had forgiven him, too. He still couldn't help but feel a little torn, at least. Jim looked sympathetically at Silver, who smiled back as a plea.

Jim smiled, and Sora knew. _When one heart asks for forgiveness, it's the other heart's decision to give it._ The boy pulled the switch to open the hold.

Silver let out an exclamation of relief and thanks, and turned back to Jim, who was untying the longboat.

"Hey, now, what say ya ship out wit' Morph and me, Jimbo? You and me, full of ourselves and no ties to anyone!"

Morph became a tricorner hat and landed himself on Sora's head as Silver continued. "And I know you got your own solar waves to ride, Sora, but if ya ever be needin' to join—"

Sora smiled, waving it off, but Jim replied.

"You know, when I got on this boat, I would've jumped at the chance to go. Anywhere. Just anywhere else. But, uh...I came across this old cyborg." Silver began to smile, touched. "And he taught me that I could chart my own course. So I'm gonna do just that."

Jim looked out through the hold opening, where the sunset hues of nebula and void dotted with stars shone vibrantly.

"So, then, what be off that bow of yours?" Silver asked.

Jim turned, thinking only briefly. "A future."

Silver chuckled and turned to Sora. "And what be ya planning for your future, lad?"

"On to the next world, I guess," Sora replied with a soft sigh. "Gotta find the gate first, but I have to go soon, too."

"Well, I be knowin' nothin' about these gates, but I do know this." He came and placed a giant, gentle hand on his shoulder. "I know ya had somethin' bad happen back there."

"What?!" Sora looked up at the huge man. "How did you—"

"Aww, now then, I would be insulting my cyborg eye to not notice the way you hold yourself. 'Sides, any spacer has to keep a sharp eye for anything."

The spiky-haired youth lowered his head, and Morph approached to look up at him, chittering.

"Hear me, I saw what ya can do, and I see how ya fight. Ye got it in your heart to do what'll help others, and that's somethin' special that'll take ya far." He gave Sora's chest a hard tap. "No mistake can eclipse that."

Sora smiled with a growing glimmer of hope as Silver stepped back towards Jim, chuckling fatherly. "Why just look at ya, glowing like a solar fire." He peered down at the beaming Jim, trying to hide obvious tears. "You're gonna rattle the stars, you are." He turned to look back a moment. "Both of ya, probably."

Unlike earlier, Silver offered a hug openly, and Jim took it.

Sora couldn't help but feel awkward, but he understood, too. The hearts of the two friends had come to peace again. _Once two hearts connect, they can never truly let go, whether they're family, significant others, or friends. Even though they're always connected, they ache when they part._ He knew that all to well.

And even though those hearts may not openly admit it. Silver still retained his fatherly façade, feigning grease in his cyborg eye and trying to wipe some away. Jim rubbed his eyes as if tired, but when he looked up, Sora could see tears in his eyes too.

Sora sighed, and blinked at the start of tears in his own eyes. Jim would be much easier to track down than Silver, but there was something else.

He wondered what it might have been like if he had been able to truly say goodbye to Riku or Kairi. When they were first separated, he reached for any chance to stay together, only to find himself just short. The second time, after defeating Xehanort's Heartless, goodbyes were comprised solely of quick promises without so much as a proper farewell.

And he wondered what he would have done, given the chance, and what he could have said.

Morph looked torn, knowing the three may not meet for a very long time. He looked back and forth between Sora and Jim, and finally began to weep himself into water, gently caught by Jim's hands.

Sora walked up, placing a few fingers on the "water's" surface, two eyes bubbling to the surface. "Hey, it's no problem, Morph. We'll be in each other's hearts, right?"

"Right?" Morph parroted. But the creature's eyes grew wide, as did everyone else's, as a breeze picked up, and he began to glow.

The Keyblade summoned itself, and Sora, though somewhat surprised, knew what to do. He held his weapon in front of himself, steadying against the wind as the shape of a crown began to glow on the planks around him.

The same familiar scenery appeared, and the Key-bearer found himself seeing the barrier between worlds as an encompassing collection of dark clouds lit somewhere from behind.

A rather shocked-looking Morph floated up, high into the air, and emitted a beam of light to reveal lights in the shape of a keyhole, through which Sora could see a churning mass of Interspace. He leapt back and swung his Keyblade around to point to the keyhole. As always, light shot from the weapon's tip, pouring light into the keyhole until it blinded him.

When he opened his eyes, he was back in the hold. Everyone blinked, Morph included.

"W-what did you do, boy?" Silver asked, approaching Morph, who chattered and landed on his finger. Never had Sora seen a more confused-looking creature, though he was obviously fine.

"Well, can't say that's happened quite like that before." Sora scratched his temple.

"It's happened before?!" Jim asked. "And that means?"

"...It means it's time for me to go, too. That was a gate. I have friends I have to search for, people I didn't really get to say goodbye to." He sighed, but looked back up again with a hopeful smile.

"Looks like ya got a long journey ahead of ya, now, don't'cha?" Silver asked, stroking a sad-looking Morph.

"Well, I always hope it'll be short. Every world has its problems, and they need help, too." He glanced down at his Keyblade.

Both Silver and Jim nodded understandingly, and Morph began to cry again.

Silver mulled something over, looking a little heart-broken. Finally he said in a stern voice, "Morphy, got a job for ya."

He squeaked as if to say, "Me?"

"You watch Sora, here. Looks like he needs all the help he can get." With that, he smiled, looking to the Key-bearer.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Sora cocked his head in confusion and amazement as Morph smiled.

"Will ya do me that f-favor?" Silver's eye watered as he said goodbye to his comrade.

The little blob saluted with its stubby arms, and peeped in such a way he sounded like he said, "Aye-aye." Morph cooed as he nuzzled a near-weeping Silver's cheek. The latter smiled kindly as the creature zipped off.

Sora did a double-take, smiling a thank you to Silver. "I'm amazed you still feel comfortable around me after what just happened." Morph nuzzled him and zipped down to his Keyblade, then let himself flow completely over the keychain and its clasp.

The Keyblade grew warm and glowed, to Sora's amazement, and in a flash of gold light it changed in appearance. "Whoa!"

The new weapon looked to be made mostly of older metals, with a blade not unlike Silver's at the end. The shaft was reminiscent of a laser rifle's barrel, and the hand guards were unlike any he could have imagined. They were a set of curved solar sails, rippling with energy and reinforced with metal supports. His hand tingled faintly at each pulse of energy that moved though the Corona Canvas.

"Somethin' special, indeed," Silver smiled as the longboat lowered. "Oh! One last thing!" he pointed, laughing to himself. "For your dear mother, Jimbo" he said, tossing coins and jewels up to Jim, "to rebuild that ol' inn of hers." Silver winked.

Sora smiled, gesturing with his new Keyblade. "See ya around!"

"Stay out of trouble, you old scalawag," Jim said smoothly

The longboat's sails unfurled. "Jimbo, when have I ever done otherwise?" He laughed off into the distance as the longboat sailed on crimson light waves.

Sora tossed a hand into the air, gazing out into the beautiful, horizonless scenery, a twilit-colored Interspace-scape. Or Etherium-scape. Sora mentally shrugged, but perhaps the two were one and the same, somehow connected.

He saw the tiny form of Silver vanish into the stars, the sea of worlds. Worlds he knew to protect first and foremost. There he saw the light of hope. His friends were somewhere out there. And though he had no clue how they were, the answers were there, shining as bright as any sun.


	10. Tea for Two

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 9: Solar Surfing**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A small, warm fire crackled in the cottage hearth. Pluto was currently curled up by said fire, snoring gratefully for the chance to rest his paws. Kairi was even more grateful for the assortment of tea and scones set out on the table before her. Since leaving Destiny Islands, she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten.

Princess Aurora laughed as Kairi scarfed down food and tea like. "Slow down, the food will still be here if you're patient."

She took a deep swallow, looking embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess I've just gotten used to doing things in a hurry. And the tea is great."

"Well, it sure is nice to share it with someone else for a change," the princess said.

Kairi detected something sad in her voice, and set her teacup down to listen further. "How did you get back here, anyway? What have you been doing all this time?"

Aurora sighed. "I'm afraid it's not a terribly exciting tale. As you know, when Sora first closed the door to Kingdom Hearts a year ago, everyone returned to their own worlds. This is my world, so I arrived back here."

"So that was your castle I saw," Kairi reasoned. "But why are you alone in this cottage? And what was that forest of thorns?"

"All of that was from before I was taken from my home. I'd only just found out that I was a princess; I was raised in this cottage practically my whole life." Aurora's voice became troubled. "I found out later this was all Maleficent's doing."

Her eyes widened at the name. "Maleficent came here?"

Aurora nodded sadly. "This is her world, too. I did know this until later, but Maleficent planned to take over this world long ago. She placed a curse on me when I was a baby, wherein I would prick my finger on a spinning wheel's spindle on my sixteenth birthday and die."

Kairi's stomach turned at the thought...sixteen was not much older than she was. "That's horrible!"

"Luckily, I had someone watching out for me. The three women who raised me were really three good fairies, and they changed the spell so that instead of dying, I would merely fall asleep. And that's what happened."

"You mean you already pricked your finger on your sixteenth birthday?"

Aurora's voice became bitter again. "Maleficent tricked me into it. And once that happened, the good fairies put the whole castle to sleep until the spell could be broken."

Kairi brightened. "Well, since you're here, that means the spell must've been broken."

The princess didn't answer for a moment, but just began to stack up the plates and saucers. Pluto whined by the fireplace, lost in some happy dream. "It didn't exactly work out that way. Maybe if Maleficent hadn't learned of the existence of other worlds, she wouldn't have left this one in such a mess. But once she began collecting the Princesses of Heart, I was taken from here. Then Sora freed us all with the Keyblade in Hollow Bastion, and I was awake again." She hesitated, glancing around the sparse cottage. "And once I returned to my own world, I was still awake. But the spell isn't actually broken, so everyone in the castle is still asleep. And the good fairies have been gone for some time now...I suspect the worlds needed them in some way."

Kairi's heart sank. "You mean you've been here by yourself this whole time?"

Aurora's eyes were filled with a tired longing. "There was little else I could do. I've been trying for a long time to reach the castle, but Maleficent's thorns are too thick. So I sought out this cottage, because I knew it was safe." She gestured at the small but friendly room. "It was run-down when I first got here, but I've fixed it up into a real home since then."

Indeed, the cottage seemed the very picture of a well-kept home. But something about it still felt empty. "So, how can you break Maleficent's spell?" she finally asked.

"I'm afraid that's the one thing I don't know," Aurora said. "There's someone else, too. Someone very dear to me, that I think would be able to help. But I can't find him. I'm not even sure where to begin looking."

Kairi knew exactly how that felt, and she slumped back in her chair. "Me too. I've only just remembered Sora, and I tried to leave to find him, and Riku, too. But everything seemed to go wrong!" She turned away from the princess, anger and hurt seeping back into her voice. "Every time I try to actually help, I just get captured or left behind. And I'm tired of it! What good am I if I can't even help my friends?!"

Aurora gave her a moment to calm down before answering. "I understand. You think because you can't use weapons or fight off the bad guys like your boys do, you're useless to them."

She nodded slowly, feeling her throat become dry at the thought.

"Well, it's nothing like that at all," she said, her voice reassuring. "You may not be able to use a weapon, but you provide your friends with something just as important. Perhaps even more so."

Kairi met her gaze. "What's that?"

The princess's smile was warm and encouraging. "Hope. You give them the strength they need to keep fighting. Without thoughts of you, even that great Keyblade wouldn't be much use in Sora's hands."

She mulled over the thought, and it delighted and terrified her at the same time. _I'm giving Sora the strength he needs...but it's also keeping him fighting._

"There's more, too. After all, we're not just ordinary girls. We're Princesses of Heart. There's all kinds of things we can do that others can't."

Kairi couldn't help but giggle at the idea. It still felt strange being called a princess, even though she had no castle or subjects. "Like hold back the darkness from a world's heart," she said.

"Even more." Aurora glanced around the cottage, as if afraid someone was eavesdropping on them. She leaned in a little closer. "We can use corridors of darkness!"

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Normally, only the Heartless and people steeped heavily in darkness can create and use paths of darkness," she explained. "If a normal person tried to use it, the darkness would eat away at their heart and weaken them. Maybe even turn them into a Heartless. But the darkness doesn't affect us, so we can use corridors of darkness as well as light."

"Really?" Kairi's eyes widened with surprise. But then again, it did make some sense. Hadn't Axel said, '_You've got a lot of guts, stepping into the darkness like that_'? Maybe she'd instinctually known that she wouldn't be hurt.

Aurora looked almost as excited as Kairi. "Yes. The only problem is that we obviously can't make these corridors ourselves. So in my free time, I've been walking around the woods and countryside, looking for portals of darkness. Sometimes the Heartless will leave one open a little longer than usual, but I haven't gotten through one fast enough yet."

"What will you do if you get through one?"

She seemed a little less certain. "I'm not sure. I'm hoping the corridor will take me to the world of another one of the Princesses of Heart. Then together we would meet up with all the others."

Kairi thought about this for a moment, but it didn't take long for the realization to strike home. _If we can find a portal of darkness, I can get off this world and look for Sora and Riku!_

She stood up suddenly, creaking her chair and making Pluto lift one ear at the noise. "Can I help you look for those portals?"

The other young woman laughed. "But of course! In fact, I was hoping you would. But perhaps, could you help me with these dishes first?"

"Sure," Kairi said, grabbing up her empty saucer and teacup. Their noise woke up Pluto, who thumped his tail and looked just as eager to participate. She felt a new surge of confidence as she helped Aurora clean up...she may not have been out there among the worlds like Sora, but she was determined to never underestimate herself again.


	11. Narnia

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 11: Narnia**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

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"It's probably a good idea we're going to tell him," Sora began, "but..." He opened up the red pouch strapped to his thigh where he placed his Keychains. Morph appeared to be sleeping soundly as they walked towards Twilight Town Central Station.

"I know; we wanna find the King as much as you want to find Kairi and Riku." Donald folded his arms. "But Master Yen Sid should know what's going on."

"A whole buncha worlds suddenly appearin' on the maps, plus how Morph can affect the Keyblade. I think he'd be interested in all that since it's so peculiar," Goofy added.

"Oh, yeah, you're right, Goofy. Just..." He sighed, sad also because they had somehow managed to miss seeing Hayner's gang this trip around.

"So, ya name the Keyblade yet?" the knight asked.

"Oh, well, I thought I overheard something about where Morph had come from, so...what about 'Proteus?'"

Donald just rolled his eyes. "You're gonna name every one, aren't you?"

Sora feigned innocence and actually smiled. "Who, me?" He said, pointing to himself. He waved to the man at the ticket booth on his left, who seemed to have decided that they had bought a long-term pass and never needed to pay for more.

Sure enough, as they walked up, the blue train stopped in its usual place. All of the feelings of the first time he'd stepped onto this train rushed back to him in an instant. However, the hurt was not as intense as the last time. After all, Sora knew he'd see Hayner, Pence and Olette again. This was only a visit to check in with Yen Sid and to get some advice.

And yet the pain was still there because he remembered it. The mysterious nostalgia still remained, even though he knew everything was fine. He looked on as Donald and Goofy took a seat, and he stood by the door until it closed. Sora leaned against it, his eyes peering half-heartedly out the small window.

With a slight lurch the blue train moved forward, and Donald and Goofy turned to watch the scenery move by. Grasping at the air alongside his leg, Sora made the motion of holding the Keyblade, the companion that had aided him and cursed him with this journey. He knew his duty, and did not shun it. But even in the company of wonderful friends he could not help but worry over others.

He looked over to Donald and Goofy, who had managed to fall asleep, and he idly wondered how long he had been thinking to himself. Indeed, they had been fighting hard, and sleep was becoming harder to get. Even Sora found his eyes flickering.

He imagined Kairi and Riku on the train with him, sitting down opposite the magician and knight. Riku ran black-gloved fingers through his hair and showed off his typically sly smile to the two. Sora could even see Kairi wipe a little dust off the seat to avoid getting it on her white tank top.

The beach appeared around him as he recalled the sands glaringly white with the bright afternoon sun. He found himself racing Riku, and looking back to make sure the playful Kairi was still behind them.

The young man rested his head against the door as remembering summoned a lonely tear.

Sleep seemed liberating, and a sense of weightlessness was slowly coming over him. It was hard to keep his eyes open, and when they closed, he found himself surrounded not by white sands, but by a complete world of light. His running companions faded as Sora slipped away, falling through the door of the disappearing train. Whenever his eyes flickered open, he could see Donald and Goofy, still slumbering but dropping with him.

Below him shone the brightest light, as if he were traveling through a tunnel. Head first he approached it, and he half-registered a landscape below, coated beautifully by an equally white snow.

Snowflakes tickled his skin as struggling eyelids let him see the world approach. The image of massive paws drifted into his thoughts, and he could see their advancement. It was as if their kind and noble presence could melt away the harshest of winters. He could sense young footsteps, unsure of their tread along the changing, progressively warmer terrain.

And he could feel the salty breeze from the distant sea.

Indeed, the snow and ice was melting away, pulled off the land like a blanket, and revealing a paradise.

Sora dreamt more of paws that filled him with awe, half-watching as the landscape came to greet him.

"...Ground?"

His eyes opened wide.

The realization snapped him to attention with no time to react. Conifers held out their branches in attempts to catch him, but he inevitably hit the ground at the speed of the train, skidding and rolling over slick grass in-between the trees. He finally came to a stop at the edge of thicker forest, or what might have been a forest if his head wasn't spinning so badly.

Sora was still recovering from the fall when he heard a terrified squawking and WAA-HOO-HOOOEEE from above. Sora's eyes went wide, and he scrambled to get out of the way, but without success. Donald and Goofy crashed into him, knocking the wind out of him temporarily and leaving them sprawling.

"Hey, watch where you're falling!" he groaned, shoving the knight and magician off of him. He got to his feet on wobbly knees, surprised that all of his ribs were still in tact.

"That wasn't _our_ fault!" Donald yelled, his face red with fury.

_Well, it seems they're not hurt, either..._ Sora thought.

"Uhhh...so where are we?" Goofy finally asked.

The reality of this unexpected occurrence finally hit Sora. He found his balance again, and got a good look at their new surroundings.

They stood at the edge of a huge forest, and faced a vast and clear woodland country. The long grass rolled down into a valley spotted with large rocks and divided by a quiet stream. Sora could see snow-capped peaks in the distance, and thought he saw the blue shimmer of an ocean beyond. The air was cool and crisp, as if this land had just come out of a long and harsh winter.

"Gawrsh, do you suppose this is another world?" Goofy wondered aloud, tapping a finger against his nose.

"Of course it is! It's definitely not Twilight Town," Donald exclaimed. It seemed he was the most unnerved of the trio.

"But how did we suddenly end up here?" Sora asked no one in particular. "We've taken that train route before without anything weird happening. And how do we get back?"

Donald was about to quack back a standard 'How should _we_ know' reply, when Goofy butted in with, "Maybe we can find a train in this world, and it'll zap us back to Twilight Town!"

Donald groaned and tapped his foot. "Does this look like the sort of world that _has_ trains?"

At that moment, Sora finally spotted something aways from them, partially hidden in the valley. A congregation of tents lay nestled against a rock outcropping. Its tents and flags were decorated red and gold, And Sora could barely make out figures moving between the tents. "Hey, guys! There're people down there!"

Donald and Goofy looked up at his proclamation and followed his pointing finger to the distant compound. Donald furrowed his brow, looking worried. "They look like war tents."

"Maybe we're back in Mulan's world," Goofy mused.

"I don't think so," Sora responded, now almost as concerned as Donald. There was something strange about this world, something...almost heavy. After a moment, Sora stood up straight, feeling decisive. "Come on, let's go down there."

"Now hold on, we don't know if it's safe," Donald warned.

"Safe? Who cares! Every other place we've gone to hasn't been a problem," Sora said, eager for them to get moving and meet the locals.

"I mean safe for us!" Donald squawked. "We don't know what kind of people live here. What if they're overly superstitious? We need to meddle as little as possible!"

"I think the only superstitious one here is _you_," Sora muttered under his breath. Donald didn't seem to hear him, so Sora continued, "it doesn't change the fact that we still need to find out why we're here."

Donald grumbled something to himself, and Sora smiled, knowing that the duck was forced to agree. "Aw, phooey. Fine. But we'll go observe first. No busting in and trying to save the first female in trouble!"

Sora couldn't hide a small snicker. "We'll see."

The knight, magician and Keyblade Master started down into the valley slowly, soaking in the scenery as they went. Sora kept his senses tuned for signs of Heartless, but the valley and forest looked peaceful. Still, Donald was right about the campground: those were war tents, and that meant they'd been dropped into a serious conflict.

Finally, they were close enough to both observe and be observed by the campground's occupants. So they crouched behind a nearby boulder and peered out, hopefully unnoticed. Sora's eyes went wide, and he nearly had to clamp a hand over his mouth to keep from blurting out "woah!"

The "warriors" that milled around the camp were not at all like those in the Land of Dragons. Some looked like half-man, half-horses, and others had goat heads or goat feet. A few lean cheetahs paced in the grass, along with other animals such as beavers, badgers, hogs and foxes. There was even a huge creature that seemed to be half-eagle, half-lion. Nearly all of the creatures wore ornate red and gold armor, and carried curved, dangerous-looking weapons.

Sora started to stand up. "Come on, let's go meet them!"

Donald grabbed him by the belt and yanked him back down. "I said no shenanigans! We're going to disguise our forms first."

"Oh, I don't think that's necessary here," Sora huffed, getting impatient. "It's not like we're underwater."

"Tough. We're getting a disguise because I said so," Donald said in a voice Sora thought was all too motherly. He stood rigid and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for Donald to perform the spell. He could never quite get used to these form changes, although he understood the need for them.

He felt as if he were being enveloped in a thick, choking light, as Donald mumbled something that probably wouldn't have been comprehensible even in a normal voice. For a brief moment his senses fuzzed out and he felt nothing. Then the world came spinning back to him, and he nearly fell over at the shock. The first thing he noticed was that he felt _much_ taller. He glanced down and noticed that his hands were still normal. But a little further down, he discovered that where his feet should have been were now horse's hooves.

"Wooah!" Sora twisted around, only to find himself moving on four legs instead of two. His entire lower half had been replaced with the body of a black horse, complete with a long white tail. He still wore his black jacket, shoulder guards and crown pendant, but the rest of his clothes were gone. Sora trotted in a neat circle, trying to get the hang of his new legs. "Check me out, I'm a horse!"

"You're a _centaur_," Donald corrected. "Honestly. Don't you ever read?"

Sora finally got a good look at his two companions. Goofy's legs were now brownish goat legs, and two stubby horns protruded from his forehead. He still wore his green vest and gloves. Goofy touched at the horns gingerly and laughed. "Ahyuck, aren't I also supposed to have four legs?"

"No, you're a _faun_," Donald sighed, clearly getting frustrated with his friends' ignorance. Donald himself now had clawed feet and white wings with blue tips. His lower half was the back end of a small lion. Donald tested out his new wings, although he had some trouble staying in the air. "And _I'm_ a griffin," he added before Sora or Goofy could ask any more stupid questions.

"Okay, so now we're disguised. Can we go see what's going on?" Sora asked, stamping his hooves impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses," Donald quacked, not catching the pun. He flapped his wings and turned to head into the camp, with Sora and Goofy right behind him.

At first the army didn't seem to notice them. They got a few odd stares, and one cheetah in particular sniffed at them suspiciously, but otherwise the form change seemed to be working well enough.

"I wonder who's in charge around here?" Goofy asked his companions.

Sora was about to answer, when some movement to his left caught his eye. The centaurs, fauns and other creatures all seemed to be amassing; following someone to a large red tent that stood alone on a rise. "I think maybe something's going on over there," Sora said, pointing to the gathering crowd. "It could be the leader or something."

Donald and Goofy followed Sora as he trotted over to investigate. The warriors all stopped in a wide circle close to the entrance of the tent. Sora shoved his way through their ranks until he was finally able to get a glimpse of the crowd's interest...and was surprised with what he found.

There was a boy, looking to be about his age, with sandy-blond hair and sky-blue eyes. The boy wore the same red-and-gold armor as the other warriors, but he didn't seem nearly as comfortable in it. He bore a sword and shield emblazoned with a golden lion. Looking at him, Sora was immediately struck with the sense of a kindred spirit.

Beside him stood two girls: one perhaps around twelve, the other close to seven. Both had dark hair, and wore long dresses with simple belts. _Maybe they're siblings?_

Sora glanced back at Donald with an irritated look. "See? There _are_ other humans here!"

Goofy scratched at one of the horns on his head. "I dunno...I get the feelin' they're not from around here, either."

"Well then, maybe they're from another world, too!" Sora reasoned. "And they might know a way to get out of here."

Sora shuffled through the crowd with the intent of asking them. Donald and Goofy exchanged panicked looks before quickly heading after him. He barely stumbled out of the crowd before the boy raised his sword and proclaimed, "We've come to see Aslan!"

For a brief instant, time seemed to slow down. Sora felt a warm wind whistle through his hair and tail as the entire army fell silent. Out of the red and gold tent stepped a majestic lion. If talking with Simba in the Pride Lands was like being in the presence of a king, then this lion was twice as kingly...and far older and wiser. His long, golden mane framed a stern face and eyes like the forest out of winter.

Those eyes caught Sora, and he felt like they were staring only at him. Sora suddenly got the sense that the lion was looking right through his mind...that his disguise, his powers, his whole purpose was laid bare. The other warriors all dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. Although he didn't know why, Sora felt compelled to bow as well. However, he still felt a little unsteady on his new horse legs, so his bow ended up as more of a stumbling forward.

If anybody noticed, they didn't bother to comment. The lion turned to the three kids and said, "Welcome, Son of Adam and Daughters of Eve."

The lion's deep voice made Sora's nerves tremble a little. The statement, however, caused him to raise an eyebrow, and he whispered to Donald and Goofy, "what does that mean?"

"Maybe he knows their parents," Goofy whispered back.

"But where is the fourth?" the lion continued, his deep voice full of concern.

"Aslan...we lost our brother Edmund," the boy said, dipping his head low. "That's why we're here. They said you were the only one who could get him back."

Sora's sympathy deepened. _They're looking for someone, too..._

The lion, Aslan, breathed a deep sigh. "The situation is far more grave, then. This betrayal is very serious."

"It's my fault, Aslan," the boy said. "I was too hard on him."

Aslan responded gently, "Peter, we shall discuss the matter in full privately. For now, you have had a long journey, and you need to rest for the days ahead."

The three children nodded, and stood. The other warriors began to disperse back into the camp. Just as Sora was about to trot back himself, a look from Aslan stopped him in his tracks.

"You three...I'd like a word with you, too."

Sora gulped down a hint of nervousness as the great lion approached. Donald and Goofy stood by his side, putting on their best "royal" faces. "Uh, yeah...um, Aslan?" Sora said, shifting from one hoof to another.

"You three are not from this world, I believe," Aslan said.

The trio exchanged glances. "How'd you know?" Donald asked, hovering a few feet off the ground.

Something like a smile formed on Aslan's face. "It's not a difficult thing to see."

"Do you know how we can get back to Twilight Town?" Goofy asked.

"No matter how you came here, you are here for a purpose," Aslan said carefully. "As are all that are here." He threw a long glance back at the three children. "Unlike you, the Pevensies are not skilled in fighting. They will need someone to protect them at times."

"We can do that!" Sora replied with confidence.

Aslan closed his eyes as if deep in concentration. "A Key-Bearer...one of the last in a long time."

Sora cocked an eyebrow at Aslan. "Huh?"

"Yes, there are many things you can do," Aslan said, opening his eyes again. "But you must remember...for all the power you have, you cannot change everything."

Sora felt something sorrowful in Aslan's words. He folded his arms behind his head and said, "Is there anything you _don't_ know?"

"Your names, for one thing," Aslan said, the smile returning to his features. The three introduced themselves in turn. "Well Sora, Donald and Goofy...if you'll excuse me, I must speak with Peter."

"Wait," Sora said as Aslan turned to leave. "What exactly happened here? Where is Edmund?"

"He is with the White Witch...she who wrongfully calls herself the queen of Narnia," Aslan responded gravely. With that, he turned and padded back to where Peter was waiting.

Sora put his fingers on his chin, deep in thought. Donald didn't like the familiar look in his eyes. "What're you thinking, Sora?"

He motioned for his friends to lean in closer, and lowered his voice. "Guys, I think we should go and rescue Edmund."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Goofy asked.

"Think about it! If we bring Edmund back, all of the Pevensies will be together again. They won't have to worry about facing down the White Witch," Sora reasoned. "Besides, Aslan _did_ say we were supposed to help protect them. I would say this counts."

"Gawrsh, I guess Peter would be happy to know his brother was okay..." Goofy mused.

Donald was not so eager. "How're we supposed to find this White Witch, anyway? We don't even know our way around here."

"I'm sure we can find a map around here. I just..." Sora halted, and glanced back toward Aslan's tent. The lion was talking with Peter, both of them seeming worried. He felt his heart swell with sympathy. "I just think we should help however we can."

The duck magician sighed and sank to the ground, giving his wings a rest. "At least it's not for a girl this time."


	12. Rescuing Edmund

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 12: Rescuing Edmund**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After scouring the campground and chatting with some of the other warriors milling around, the trio did indeed stumble across a map. It took a bit of deciphering, but it was finally determined the campground was north of Cair Paravel, very close to a place called the Stone Table.

"Which means if we head in this direction, we should find the White Witch's camp," Sora explained as they headed down the path. The campground was now just a cluster of red and gold splotches against the hillside. The woods stretched before them, thick and twisted...not nearly as inviting as Aslan's camp out in the sun. Beyond the woods stood two enormous hills, their edges still tipped with snow.

Donald looked back at the camp ruefully. As usual, Sora had dragged them on another rescue mission without any kind of backup. Even Goofy appeared to be unsure about this situation. "You sure we're goin' the right way?"

Sora paused. He felt a distinct coldness on the air that seeped beneath his skin, and his hooves pawed the grass with uneasy instinct. He knew the feeling all too well. _There's Heartless around here._

"Yeah, we're going the right way," Sora replied, his face set. "Let's keep our guard up."

The trio did not get far into the thick of the forest before Heartless began appearing. Mostly it was Shadows, Driller Moles and Rabids slithering up from the ground and poking out from behind trees. Sora willed the Keyblade into his hands, ready for battle, but barely even needed to use it. He stomped his shorter opponents into the ground with his hooves. Donald and Goofy finished off the others with a fire spell and some well-placed knocks from the shield.

"Somebody would've heard that," Donald warned, sweeping his eyes across the trees.

"Then let's hurry!" Sora said, giving them an encouraging grin. His canter sped up to a gallop, leaving the knight and magician to chase after him. Sora could hear noises growing louder and more distinct around them, and his heart beat faster at the thrill of battle. _All we gotta do is find a boy who looks like his brother and sisters, and we'll be home free!_

However, the first creature they stumbled across was neither a human nor a Heartless. A huge, black-and-gray wolf barred his path, and leered up at him with cold amber eyes. "Intrud—"

Sora didn't waste a minute. He reared up on his hind legs and landed the wolf two swift kicks to the head. Donald swooped down and finished it off with a thunder spell, giving it no chance to so much as protest.

In a moment, the forest was thick with enemies. Mingling among the usual Heartless were the Witch's wolves, trolls, minotaurs and other nasty creatures. They stomped at the ground with cloven hooves and bared yellow, snaggly teeth. The three faced them down with their own weapons ready. "I'm gonna search for Edmund! You guys cover me!" Sora declared, and they nodded in compliance.

Sora charged through the trees, swinging the Keyblade at anything and everything that stood in his way. Those that didn't get slashed open or knocked out were trampled beneath his hooves. He soon found himself sparring with a shaggy mountain of a minotaur, but Goofy barged in and knocked it flat. Sora shot him a smile and leaped over the fallen minotaur. His eyes scanned the forest, searching for anything that looked like it wouldn't attack them...

There!

On his distant right, a boy in dark hair and torn clothes sat tied to a tree. A gag was tied around his mouth, preventing him from crying for help against his own attacker. A rather ugly dwarf in a heavy coat and red stocking cap was holding a knife to the boy's throat.

"Is the little prince happy with his royal treatment?" the dwarf sneered, failing to notice the black centaur that reared up behind him. He turned around just in time for one well-placed hoof to slam into his chest. The dwarf toppled over with a breathless wheeze.

Satisfied, Sora turned to the boy and drew the Keyblade, causing an even more terrified look to cross his face. Sora gave him a reassuring smile and pointed the Keyblade at the ropes. A spurt of fire from the Key dissolved the ropes with a tired snap. Finally realizing this was a rescue, the boy reached up and untied the gag in his mouth, sputtering gratefully for air.

"You're Edmund, right?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, but who're—"

"We're from Aslan's camp!" Sora interrupted, and got to his knees so that he was level with Edmund. "Climb on! We're getting out of here."

Edmund paused for one bewildered moment before finally clambering onto Sora's back. Sora nearly buckled under the new weight, but regained his equilibrium quickly and took off at a gallop. Edmund gripped at his sides for dear life, indicating he was just as unsure about this as Sora.

Sora spotted a faun and miniature griffin through the trees, beating back a gang of wolves and Armored Knights. "Donald! Goofy! We did it, let's head back!"

Following his signal, Donald and Goofy cut across the forest and rejoined them. The battered and beaten Heartless could in no way keep up with Sora's galloping, and he flashed them back a victory smirk before picking up to full speed.

"That showed 'em!" Donald exclaimed, now fully confident as he took the air.

The three heroes and their recovered rescuee failed to notice the thin, slow figure dressed from head to toe in white furs and crystal that appeared from behind the trees. She watched them retreat out of the woods with pursed lips and eyes of poisonous ice. When they had disappeared over the horizon, she turned back to the fallen dwarf.

"That young centaur...the one using a key for a weapon...has he been seen before?" Every word in her voice dripped with carefully-controlled malice, as if she were squeezing blood from a stone.

The dwarf, having the wind kicked out of him, was unable to answer. She gave him a murderous sneer. "Ready my sleigh. We need to pay a visit to Aslan's so-called 'army'."

------

"Edmund!"

Peter, Susan and Lucy beat the crowd out of the camp, running across the grass to where the rescuers approached. Sora halted ahead of his two friends, breathless but triumphant, and knelt down so that Edmund could dismount. Before the boy even got both feet on the ground, he was swarmed by his siblings.

"Edmund, we're so glad you're okay!" Susan cried, throwing her arms around him in a crushing hug. Edmund might have mumbled back a confirmation, but it was smothered in her dress fabric.

Peter marched up and faced him, looking like he was about to burst into either yelling or tears. "Listen! You...you can't...don't leave us like that again, you hear?"

Edmund bowed his head, hiding what might have been a resentful scowl. However, his voice spoke of true regret. "I'm sorry."

Peter's stern "oldest child" face fell away. "Oh, never mind that now," he said, and embraced his younger brother.

Sora stood just aways from the reunion as Donald and Goofy caught up, all feeling satisfied with a job well done. However, Sora found something else mingling with his triumph...something heavy on his heart. The ache was familiar by now, always appearing when he saw long-lost friends reunited.

_Kairi and Riku were so close...but I still haven't found either of them yet._

A small figure standing before him interrupted his thoughts. Lucy Pevensie looked up at him with a huge, grateful smile. "Thank you for bringing our brother back."

A sudden blush spread across Sora's cheeks. He folded his hands behind his head and grinned wide. "It was no trouble!"

"Yeah, we're just glad you guys're together again," Goofy added.

"What're your names?" Lucy asked.

"We're Sora, Donald and Goofy," Sora replied, motioning to himself, the magician and knight in turn.

"You don't know what this means to me," she said, suddenly running up and hugging Goofy. The faun-knight just stood there, bewildered, while Sora snickered. His snickering stopped abruptly when Lucy ran over and hugged him as well.

As the other Pevensies stepped forward, Aslan appeared on the crest of the hill. His proud stance betrayed something else...some different feeling Sora couldn't quite put his finger on. Peter turned to see him as Aslan approached. "Edmund's back!"

"So I see," Aslan replied, staring intently at the dark-haired boy. Edmund couldn't hold the gaze, and turned his face away. The cheerful crowd suddenly became quiet, and Sora sensed there was more to this than he first thought.

"Edmund and I will speak alone, now," Aslan said in a tone both patient and warning. With that, the great lion tread towards the other end of the camp. Edmund shuffled after him, looking like a child about to be scolded by his parent. The other warriors took this as the signal to return to their posts, although the other Pevensies remained by Sora and his friends.

"I hope Edmund'll be alright," Lucy mumbled.

Sora cocked his head to one side. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"Edmund..." Peter paused, choosing his words carefully. "He betrayed us to the White Witch. If we hadn't got help from Aslan and everyone, she probably would've found us and..." he trailed off, letting the silence speak for itself.

"I don't get it. Why is the White Witch after you guys, anyway?" Sora asked.

Lucy looked confused. "Wait, I thought _we_ were the only ones who didn't know about the prophecy."

"Well, uh...we've been away for awhile, and we only just got back in, so we're not up-to-date on the latest prophecies!" Sora joked, grinning nervously.

Peter gritted his teeth, looking like he was about to respond, but then walked away. Susan glanced between them before choosing to follow Peter. Lucy sighed, as if once again having an important task delegated to her.

"Mr. Beaver says it's because of the prophecy," she said, lowering her voice. "When two Sons of Adam and two Daughters of Eve sit on the thrones at Cair Paravel, the White Witch's reign will end. So she wanted to kill us to stop the prophecy from coming true!"

All three looked shocked at the revelation. While Sora disliked the White Witch before, this information sealed the deal. "Well, don't worry!" Sora declared, pointing his thumb to his chest. "We'll make sure the White Witch doesn't get anywhere near you guys!"

Lucy gave the trio another grateful, almost humored smile. She hesitated, as if about to say more, and then turned to follow her two siblings back to the camp. As soon as she was out of sight, Sora folded his arms over his chest and turned to Donald with a cross glare.

It took Donald a second to catch the look. "What?"

"Two human boys and two human girls on the throne at Cair Paravel? I didn't need a form change after all!" Sora complained.

"Huh, I guess havin' another boy around like Sora would've put a dent in the Witch's plan." Goofy caught on to what Sora meant.

"Forget about that! You just wanted to be _king_ again!" Donald sputtered, his feathers ruffled.

Sora laughed. "Just kidding!"

"Y'know, Edmund may've betrayed his brother an' sisters, but I think he's really sorry," Goofy said, returning to the subject. "I don't think Aslan'll hurt him or anythin'. He seems to know all kindsa things."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right."

As the trio finally headed back into the camp, Sora found himself shuffling his hooves, slowed down by his thoughts. _Riku...maybe he and Edmund are not so different._ Sora's face set at the thought. _And if Edmund can get away from the darkness and find his family, then I can find Riku, too!_


	13. Secret Negotiations

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 12: Secret Negotiations**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sora, aren't you gonna ask 'em about gettin' home, yet?"

Goofy's sudden inquiry caught Sora off-guard. He had gotten so wrapped up in helping the Pevensies train that he'd almost forgotten his intention to ask them about a way home. Peter and even Edmund both improved in a short amount of time, but Sora could tell they still had aways to go. Some part of him didn't want to leave just yet...something felt unfinished.

"I would, but we haven't even discovered a new gateway yet," Sora explained. "Besides, Aslan keeps mentioning how the Pevensies still need help training. I kinda took that to mean we should stay."

Donald landed beside his two friends, giving his griffin wings a rest. "I don't see how the White Witch could possibly bother to take on them, anyway, with so many people protecting them..."

Sora was about to reply, when all three were distracted by a commotion from the camp. The other few fauns and centaurs out training in the field galloped back towards the red-and-gold tents.

The trio turned to look at each other. "We better go see what's up," Sora said, breaking into a gallop himself. Donald and Goofy followed close behind.

Aslan's camp was buzzing with activity by the time Sora, Donald and Goofy returned. The various warriors were all talking loudly, milling close to where Aslan and the four children stood at the edge of the hill. Sora trotted up behind Peter, and noticed the crowd of warriors parted.

"What's going on—"

"Make way for her majesty, Jadis, the Queen of Narnia!"

The first thing Sora noticed was the cold. It swept over him, like a blast of wind from a dark winter's night in the mountains. It was made all the worse by the familiar coldness in his blood; the stench of Heartless pounding in his veins.

The source of the cold became clear: a woman sat on a high wooden chair, carried by four burly cyclopses. Her wiry, blonde hair was pulled back into twisted braids, revealing a deathly pale face and dark, unblinking eyes. She wore a long dress made of white and crystal that looked entirely too hot for the spring weather. Her marble-black eyes bored into Sora until he felt she was looking at him and him alone. The gaze reminded him strongly of Maleficent...and yet it seemed more wild and unpredictable. Maleficent had actually helped them escape from the Great Maw...Sora doubted this woman would have done the same.

Jadis's small caravan, which included several cyclopses, wolves and the red-hatted dwarf, came to a halt just a short distance from where they stood. She stood on the adorned platform, and spoke to Aslan as if commanding a lowly peasant.

"I've come for what's mine."

Sora didn't like her tone. But Aslan's great voice boomed back before he could reply, "Edmund is no longer yours. His debt has been forgiven."

Jadis sneered. "To you, perhaps. But he is still a traitor, and all traitors belong to me."

Peter suddenly stepped forward, drawing his own sword. "Try and take him, then!"

Sora could have cheered for Peter then, but Jadis's wicked smile only broadened. "Stupid boy." She waved her long, crystal-tipped staff in the air, and a dozen Armored Knight Heartless suddenly sprang from midair. Aslan's warriors jumped back in shock at their entrance.

"As you can see, Aslan, I have the power to create an army from nothing," Jadis declared, her arms spread wide. "My hordes are limitless...there is no chance for you to win with this pitiful 'army' of yours."

Sora had had enough of talk. He leapt forward, Keyblade drawn, and landed between Aslan and Jadis. Donald and Goofy were by his side in an instant, their own weapons ready. "We'll see about _that_!" he shot back, his hooves pawing the dirt. "We can take care of any Heartless _you_ can dish out!"

The White Witch's icy stare turned from Aslan to Sora, then focused on the Key clenched in his hands. "A Key for a weapon...I believe I have heard tales of such an object before," she said. "Another prophecy to end, perhaps?"

"Hey, are you even listening to me? Your Heartless don't scare us, so get lost!" Sora shouted, pointing the Keyblade at her.

"Yeah!" Donald added, already mentally preparing a fire spell should the need arise.

Jadis didn't seem phased...if anything, Sora's outbursts stoked her fires stronger. "Foolish outsider! You think any power you hold can change the laws of this world?"

Sora raised the Keyblade over his head and reared onto his hind legs. "I'll show _you_ power, you—"

"Sora!"

The Keyblade Master clomped back down to earth at Aslan's voice. The lion's eyes told him all he needed to know, and yet left much unsaid. The eyes then locked back with Jadis's cerulean ones. "I will speak with you privately, witch."

Sora turned around, his mouth agape. "But you can't just—"

"We _may_ yet reach an agreement," Aslan said through his teeth, both to Sora and Jadis. Still furious but obedient, Sora stepped aside as Jadis descended from her mobile throne. The Armored Knights disappeared back into darkness. Jadis threw another hateful glare in Sora's direction before following Aslan up to his tent. Both parties remained silent even after the tent flap fluttered closed.

"Gawrsh, Aslan likes to talk to people in private a lot," Goofy finally whispered, although his voice was too loud to really constitute a whisper.

Sora barely noticed. He remained focused on Aslan's tent, his eyes narrowed. _Something here isn't right...this shouldn't need to happen._

Lucy Pevensie approached him, seeming to speak for all her siblings. "So what do we do now?"

Sora's shoulders slumped as a chilly wind rustled his hair and tail. "I guess we wait."

------

It was no more than twenty minutes before Jadis reemerged from the tent, but to Sora it felt like hours. The unnatural silence coming from Aslan's tent seemed to settle like a blanket over the rest of the camp, leaving its inhabitants to mill around and pick at the grass. The White Witch stepped out first, followed shortly by Aslan. Sora studied her face for any sign of defeat, but couldn't see any...it was difficult enough finding any sort of emotion in that pale mask.

The company stood as Jadis made her way back to her seat, looking even more frozen than usual. While some kind of "agreement" may have been reached, Sora still held the Keyblade ready.

"She has renounced her claim," Aslan said in a tone that allowed no questions.

Jadis made a move as if to sit back on her throne, but then halted, turning back to Aslan with distrust in her eyes. "And how do I know you'll keep your promise?"

Aslan answered her with a thunderous roar. His voice shook the tents and made Sora and his friends cover their ears. Jadis fell back into her chair like a gracefully-toppled tree, causing Sora to smirk and several other warriors to laugh. Without bothering to recover her fallen dignity, the White Witch motioned for her minions to escort her out of the camp.

As they left, Donald flapped after them, waving his staff with less-than-necessary bravado. "And _stay_ out!"

The rest of the camp broke out into cheers, although Sora just folded his arms at Donald's "victory march."

"_That'll_ show her!" Donald boasted.

While everyone else seemed intent on celebrating, Sora couldn't help but glance back to Aslan. For all he had done, the great lion seemed anything but happy.

Goofy seemed to share Sora's concerns. "What sorta promise do you think Aslan gave to the Witch?"

Sora's heart suddenly turned at the word. He knew all about the power of a promise...how it bound people together, and how serious the consequences could be if one was broken. _Aslan must know that, too._

"I don't know...but I'm going to find out."

He galloped back up the hillside, waving his hand as Aslan started to turn away. "Aslan, wait!" The lion turned to face him slowly, his deep eyes seeming heavier than usual. "What did you say to Jadis abo—"

"That's none of your concern," he said sharply, causing the Key-bearer to take a few steps back. Aslan's face softened. "Sora...the Witch may be filled with cruelty, but she speaks some truths. Even the power you hold cannot alter the laws of the worlds."

Sora cocked his head to the side and scratched at his hair. "I don't understand."

"You don't need to. All I ask if that you protect Peter and his family." A sad smile crossed Aslan's face. "And I'm certain you are capable of that."

"But—"

The lion padded back into his tent without another word. Sora's shoulders slumped, and he kicked at the dirt with his hooves. "Something's not right here," he told Donald and Goofy as they approached.

"I'm sure Aslan must know what he's doing," Goofy said, sounding like he wanted to be cheerful, but couldn't quite justify it.

"But you guys all saw the Witch! I don't think she's the type to give up that easily," Sora insisted. "What would Aslan offer her that would make her forget about Edmund?"

The knight and magician pondered this, but had no good response. "Well, what should we do about it?" Donald asked.

Sora put his hand on his chin in thought. "Aslan said we need to protect the Pevensies, so we need to keep doing that. But I think we'd better keep an eye on Aslan, too."


	14. The Stone Table

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 14: The Stone Table**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sora couldn't sleep.

It was difficult enough sleeping as it was...he still couldn't get used to sleeping standing up, as he kept waking himself up with his head snapping forward. The first few nights in Narnia he'd had to lean against a tree just to get some rest. But tonight, there was something else keeping him up...some coldness in the air that was neither the Witch nor the Heartless, but still just as deadly. The trees themselves seemed to sense it, waving back and forth although there was no wind.

After hours of battling this insomnia, he decided to give it up. He remembered that on restless nights taking a walk could at least give his mind somewhere to go.

He stepped out of the tent that someone had generously modified for him with a strong central support. He faintly remembered a night at a crossroads, and where he had ended up last time he went for a walk like this. He still wondered how he had gotten from there, to the outside of a castle before ending up in a strange place...

"Perhaps just a little fresh air would be better," he whispered to no one. He stood, feeling the dew soak through the long hair of his fetlocks and chill his legs, but not particularly caring. Crossing his arms, he looked to the night sky.

It seemed the moon was a spectator to some somber event, and Sora sighed, unable to do more than worry for his friends. Shaking his head, he decided the scene was somehow more depressing than helpful, and he turned to re-enter the tent, only to catch a glimpse of tan along the tree line.

"Aslan?" Something gnawed at his heart, and he watched a moment, catching sight of what seemed to be the two girls.

Quickly he re-entered the tent, seeing Goofy awkwardly slung into a hammock and Donald curled up on a mat, looking amazingly comfortable.

"At least he still has the same number of limbs," the Keyblade master mumbled. "Hey guys? Guys? Somethin's up." He went over to Goofy, since he was afraid of falling onto the nearby Donald if he tried to kneel down. "Goofy?" Sora felt a hoof land on something uneven. "Goo-"

"WHAAAAAK!" Sora jumped higher than he thought possible in this form, moving aside to see that he had just stepped on the now-aggravated griffin's tail. "Watch where you're stepping, you big palooka!" Donald flapped his way to Sora's eyelevel.

"Shhh!!!" Sora's hands clamped Donald's mouth closed. "You'll wake the whole camp!"

"What's all the ruckus?" Goofy yawned.

"Aslan is leaving the camp, and it looks like Susan and Lucy are either following or with him."

"Think we should follow 'em?" the faun asked.

"Yeah, this is at least weird."

"Grab your stuff," Donald grumbled. "We're probably not going to be sleeping tonight."

Following them was easy enough. It was clear that the girls were following the great lion rather than doing otherwise, and their human bodies were nosier than the better-suited forms of the trio. The night was quietly lit by the subdued moonlight, and only the crickets, owls and other creatures of the night whispered their words though the air. It was as if they had noticed Aslan's disheartened padding over the rustling blades of young grass.

After a time of following, the lion paused, raising his head only slightly.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?"

Sora's heart beat faster, thinking they had been caught, but Lucy and Susan came out of hiding and approached.

"We couldn't sleep," came Lucy's gentle young voice.

"Please, Aslan...couldn't we come with you?"

"I would be glad of the company for a while." He turned his noble head as the two girls approached him "...Thank you."

The trio watched with a subtle sigh of relief and looked on. Gingerly Lucy reached a hand out toward Aslan, taking hold of his mane as one would take the hand of someone who had lost something dear. Just after Susan did the same, they slowly moved on for a time.

Something was very wrong, and a deep fear of the unknown began to eat at Sora's insides. It was like something he was missing, and whatever it was, it was urgent. He followed as silently as his hooves could move him, trying to ignore the blanket of dread that threatened to smother him.

The time came when Aslan stopped and turned to the girls, his visage clear in the moonlight. "It is time. From here, I must go on alone." He looked mournfully forward.

"But Aslan—"

Aslan stopped Susan's protest by looking back again. His eyes shined not with the light of his own life, but only with the cold reflection of the moon. "You have to trust me...for this must be done."

His eye line changed, and Sora felt his hair stand on end as it flickered in their direction, scanning them. It was a grave look, and he knew they had been caught, though considering the sureness of the gaze he wondered just how long Aslan knew they had been there. Lucy turned to look, but Aslan's protective voice pulled her eyes back.

"Thank you Susan. Thank you Lucy...thank you...and farewell." With that he padded away. Susan put a hand on a worried Lucy's shoulder, and the two walked off as well. However, Sora noted they didn't just turn back, but were taking up another hiding place to watch Aslan.

"Guys!" the Key-bearer whispered, motioning to follow. If the girls were there, he knew they should be at least. Finding another concealed location was easy, but it was far enough away from the girls that noise would be passed off as animal chatter.

But strange chatter was the first thing Sora noticed.

Looking over the ridge, the trio could see the screech's source. A large gathering of terrible beasts and a scene lit by sinister flames flickering in a clearing met their gaze. Heartless festered among the ranks. An ancient stone altar stood in the center of a circle of monoliths, brutally tribal in its appearance, with a rock table in front of the White Witch herself.

Aslan walked up the steps of the plateau, his mere gaze enough to frighten off a vile creature that seemed bold enough to try to stare him down. The beasts parted for him, but not without cruel snarls and growls. Heartless hissed at every step. Jadis, however, stepped atop the table, and a wicked dagger-like wand gleamed in her hands. Her atypically dark outfit sported a black wing on her right shoulder, though to whom it originally belonged to Sora dreaded to think.

Sora's heart nearly stopped. "No...no, there's no way it could..."

The witch spoke with a jeer. "Behold...the great lion!" Her words elicited hideous laughter from her crowd.

Some creatures approached, and Aslan snarled a warning.

What Sora guessed was a minotaur turned to his ruler. With a subtle motion of her head, the monstrosity struck Aslan alongside the head with his axe hilt.

The centaur's blood ran hot suddenly, and he gritted his teeth. Loud jeers became audible, calling Aslan a mere 'kitty.' "C'mon Aslan, don't do this. FIGHT!" he growled a whisper. Donald shushed him.

"Bind him!" ordered the wicked woman. Sora balled a fist as her orders were executed not only gladly, but with ease by Lance Soldiers and Armored Knights. Even Aslan's mouth was tied.

"Wait! ...Let him first...be _shaved_."

Jadis's words called squeals of delight from her horde. The witch's dwarven toady ran up with a knife, and, grabbing a fistful of air, sawed it off to hold it over his head as a trophy for all to see. The dwarf threw it away and greedily reached down to slice away more of his mane. More joined in the cruelty, and the sound of cutting hair against cold steal could be heard even at a distance.

"Bring him to me!" the White Witch commanded.

Dragging him by his ropes, the massive Aslan was hauled over the rough, uneven stone onto the table. He laid there, humiliated and bruised as the animals howled and screeched in excitement.

Holding out her arm harshly, the cacophony ceased, and a deathly silence ensued briefly.

"No. No, this can't happen; I'm NOT letting this happen!" Sora got to his feet.

Goofy piped up. "Sora?"

A single staff came down upon the stone.

Multiple staffs clattered on the rock.

And more and more began. Cries and vocals joined with other instruments in savage ritual; mounting intensity of fear that matched the rhythm of Sora's own heart. And as Sora's heart began to beat faster, the malicious music easily matched the pace. He watched as the self-proclaimed queen knelt down and put an arm over Aslan. Though Sora heard no words, he knew full well what disheartening things were surely being told to the caring leader. The centaur pawed the ground, and with only the slightest thought the Keyblade was summoned to his hand with a brief flash.

Standing, Jadis decried, "Tonight, the Deep Magic...will be appeased! ...But tomorrow, we will take Narnia...forever!" Primitive chatter and cheer fortified her declaration.

Sora's heart raced with the beat, and he reared. A fluttering form in his face and a faun at his feet stopped him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he roared at them, just avoiding coming down upon Goofy. "They're gonna KILL him!" His voice could barely be heard over the commotion.

"He's dying in Edmund's place!" Goofy cried.

"You can't help him! Don't you realize?! He's fulfilling his promise to make sure Narnia's in balance! We can't meddle, especially here!" Donald for once looked more distressed than angry with Sora.

"But...!" Sora's anger melted, and he felt powerless instead. He looked from Donald to Aslan with no way to say goodbye, and no time. Energy swelled inside of him with nowhere to go, and he felt a need to do something desperately. He panted, gritting his teeth as his eyes watered in some emotion he could not understand fully.

Beats pounded hard in both ribs and ears with deafening intensity.

"In that knowledge...despair..." She raised the wand high. "And DIE!"

The weapon sunk deep into the lion's body.

Aslan uttered a slight exclamation before sighing out his last growl and closing his eyes.

The world seemed to slow around Sora, and it felt as if a Heartless had succeeded in tearing out his heart. He collapsed, the pain of falling on his own legs dulled by utter shock. Only one arm held up his upper body. He gasped as a few tears rolled down his face. Sora's pulse disoriented the world, and adrenaline made him shake. "No...!" He looked to his comrades, who also looked crestfallen.

"The great cat is DEAD!" Sora could barely see her pose over Aslan's body.

The cheers of her army tore at the Keyblade master and added anger to his chilled blood.

"General, prepare your troops for battle."

The minotaur who first struck Aslan let loose a great bellow, and the cries and hisses droned out the witch's next words.

They moved noisily to ready themselves as the trio watched them begin to march out, thankfully going nowhere near the girls' hiding place.

"I should have DONE something!" Sora pounded his fist into the grass. "I was there, I could have SAVED him!"

"No, you couldn't have, Sora, you know full well he did what he had to do," Donald explained. "You can't be responsible for everything that happens in the world."

He looked down to his Keyblade and stood. "Yes, yes I can..." He suddenly snarled. "What good am I or even this thing if I can't even save one life?!" Sora threw the Keyblade into the grass with force, only to find it back in his hand again.

"...Why is this familiar...?"

"Aww, shucks, you've saved lotsa lives. You've saved Kairi, remember?" Goofy scratched his head.

"...I don't even know where she is. I wasn't there to protect her... Riku... I don't even know what's happened to him. I can't even save the ones I've known for so long..."

The faun put a hand on his shoulder. "Sora, remember what Aslan told ya. 'For all the power you have, you can't change everything.'"

The young man dismissed the Keyblade and crossed his arms. "I SHOULD be able to."

"Sora, you're human, just like the rest of us." The centaur gave the griffin an odd look. "You know what I mean! All you can do is try with all your heart."

"...All...my heart..." Sora took hold of his necklace and sighed.

The sun made its first hints of presence known with a pale light in the sky as the last of the army left. The sight of Aslan left on the stone table still ate at his heart, but he remembered their friends at the tents as a cold wind began to blow a couple gusts.

This would not be in vain.

"Susan and Lucy will be safe. ...C'mon. We have a camp to warn."

As they stepped somberly through the grass, Sora caught a glance of something being blown along the ground. Stopping to pick it up, he examined it; Donald and Goofy watching.

Once, it had been a bushy lock of Aslan's golden mane.

The Keyblade Master sighed and pursed his lips. Reaching down, he pulled a little cloth from his shirt out from under his belt, and began to tear it.

"What're you doing that for?! You need those clothes!" Donald exclaimed.

"...I've had Heartless claws go through this thing, and it seems the magic keeps repairing it."

"Then whatcha doin'?" Goofy scratched his head.

Sora tied one end of the strip around the lock. "I don't care if it snags while I'm fighting." He planted the end of his Keyblade in the ground, tying the other end to the loop at the end next to the keychain. "This is for Aslan."

He lifted the Keyblade to examine it, only to feel the grip grow hot in his palm. "YEOW!" He tossed it away, rubbing his sore fingers and glad that his glove gave him some protection.

"What'd you do?!" Goofy yelled.

"I-I don't know!" Sora watched as they Keyblade shook on the ground a moment, shuddering until the keychain that had been attached popped off. It lay there, silent for a moment.

Sora waited a moment, and watched as light slowly enveloped it when he called it to his hand.

When he looked to his hand, however, he saw something new.

"Woaaaaah...!" Sora's comment was echoed by his friends. It was of little surprise, as a new Keyblade had appeared. Sword-like in nature, the Keyblade's "teeth" had become not unlike a delicately engraved battle axe, with the image of a lion upon it. At the end of the hilt was another lion head. Cryptic runes marked the blade itself.

"Aslan must have had a lot of light in him to do that..." the faun knight commented.

"Yeah..."

"I guess you're going to name this one, too, aren't you?" Donald looked at Sora out of the corner of his eye.

"...Aslan took Edmund's place...because of his betrayal. This Keyblade came from that." He looked it over, noting the intricacy and nobility of the blade.

"...Traitor's Stead."

He looked to the horizon, and spoke while holding back a tear. "Long live Aslan."


	15. Antiform

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 15: Antiform**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

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It was easy for the trees to catch wind of what happened. Sora felt as if he could hear them whisper as he raced through the forest. It seemed that the feeling of grass underhoof could not come fast enough as a replacement to roots. He, Donald, and Goofy clattered into camp, running right into the flap of the boys' tent.

The sound of shrill metal met Sora's ears, and the glint of a blade met his sight. "Whoa! It's me, it's me!"

Peter, still in his hammock, lowered his drawn sword. Edmund just looked irritated.

"Sorry...something bad's happened. Really bad."

------

As the sun's light began to color the sky, the camp was already stirring. Aslan's tent was still dull in the darkness as Peter emerged, his eyes downcast.

"You're right..." he said as he approached the others." He put his knuckles on the table with the battle plans. "He's gone."

Edmund looked slowly to Sora, Donald, and Goofy, who shook their heads sadly.

"Then you'll have to lead us." Edmund said. Peter and the Key-bearer gave Edmund a look, though the other two nodded. "Peter, there's an army out there...and it's waiting to follow you.

"I can't...!" It seemed the young man simply couldn't believe the weight on his shoulders.

"Aslan believed you could!"

Peter looked away, doubtful of Edmund.

"...And so do I."

Sora and his comrades nodded as Peter looked back, knowing what he had to do. "We all do, Peter. You have an entire army who believes in you!"

Peter pursed his lips, glancing briefly at the map.

"Time's running out..." Donald said with atypical softness.

"What're your orders gonna be?" Goofy saluted in a typically awkward manner that made Peter smile a little before looking back at the map.

And as the map could unfold, so would the day of the battle.

------

The fields of Narnia stretched out before Sora like an ocean of fresh grass, and Sora suddenly felt that this world was vaster than any other world he'd been to. For how calm it appeared, the land was anything but peaceful. Sora could feel it in his heart, and in the nervous shuffles of the fauns, centaurs and satyrs that surrounded him. He trotted through their ranks, his saddlebags full of potions and other recovery items jostling at his sides. He spotted Peter at the forefront of the army, seated on a white unicorn. To Sora, the armor looked clunky and unnatural on Peter...and yet, underneath that shell sat a boy who was willing to do whatever it took to defend his family and friends.

Sora approached him, and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Peter looked up to meet Sora's smile. "You're ready for this. I know it!" Sora said.

Peter attempted to smile back. "I keep trying to tell myself that."

"Well, don't worry," Sora encouraged, summoning the Keyblade and slinging it over his shoulder. "We'll handle all of the Heartless. You just keep an eye out for the Witch."

Sora's cocky grin finally pulled Peter's smile to the surface. "Thank you, Sora. I don't know how I would've gotten through this without you, or As—"

The conversation died on the name. Sora looked towards the ground suddenly, and felt the brush of the lion's-mane keychain against his shoulder. _If this feels so much like a broken promise...why am I so okay with it?_

Sora felt a sudden tremor in the ground rattle up through his hooves. He followed the feel of the shuddering earth to the horizon, where its source became apparent.

His first thought was that it was not unlike his battle in the Great Maw not that long ago. A long line of enemies, stretched from one end of the valley to the other, slowly marched into view. Many of them were wolves, minotaurs, harpies and other monsters. However, many of them were also Armored Knights, Assault Riders, Living Bones and Lance Soldiers. He even spotted a Behemoth towards the back, and a few Wyverns circling above.

At the front of the line, two restless Living Bones pulled a huge silver chariot. Even from the distance, Sora knew it was the Witch...her presence stood out like an icicle in a field of blooming cherry trees. Just the thought of her brought back his memory of the Stone Table, and he gripped at the Keyblade so hard its tread imprinted onto his palm.

_Peter can handle the White Witch...if I don't get to her first!_

Sora saw Peter shrink back only slightly at the sight...he suddenly got the sense that this was not the first war Peter had seen; perhaps something even more brutal and terrible than this. Sora stood up a little straighter, throwing his shoulders back with a determined stance. "We're with you all the way!"

Peter just nodded in reply. For an agonizingly long time, the two armies simply stood and faced each other, both pawing the ground with anticipation. It was as if they were waiting for a signal; some invisible green light that would let the bloodbath begin. The built-up tension crackled like electricity through the air, setting all of the hairs on Sora's skin upright.

Whatever the invisible signal was, Jadis saw it first. She raised her staff high in the air, then thrusted it at Peter's small army. At the command, the ranks of monsters and Heartless barreled forwards. Their pounding footfalls crushed the new grass into fibers and shook the earth all the way down to the coasts. Their charge was so incessant, some of the shorter wolves and tigers were trampled by the Heartless around them.

The closer they drew, the more antsy Sora became to get moving himself. "You sure this is a good idea?" Sora said with a glance back at Peter.

Peter smiled, as if thinking of a joke that wasn't supposed to be funny. "I've seen it work before."

With that, he raised his sword to the heavens. A battalion of griffins took to the skies, led by a very battle-hungry Donald. The griffins all carried huge boulders in their claws. By the time Jadis's army took notice, they had already begun their descent.

"Bombs awaaaaay!" Donald cried, pointing his staff at the enemies below. A shower of boulders rained down, crushing monsters and Heartless alike. Donald himself threw out a few spells of his own, drawing enemies together with magnet before finishing them off with a round of thunderbolts.

Sora pumped his fist in the air as Jadis's army scattered in panic. "All right, it did work!"

But the air raid met a resistance quickly. Half a dozen Wyverns honed in on the griffins from all sides. One griffin's heart was stolen with a bite to the neck, and another went spiraling to earth after being repeatedly kicked by another Wyvern. Donald managed to keep any airborne fighters away from him with a fire spell, and a few Wyverns tumbled downward with singed and broken wings.

And yet, for all the damage done, Jadis's army still pounded forward. For every felled Heartless, two more sprang up to take its place. The griffins, being seriously outnumbered, began to circle back to Peter's army.

Sora brought the Keyblade into a battle position, and smirked at Peter. "You ready?"

They Key-bearer knew that he wasn't. "Let's go!"

Ranks of red-and-gold-armored soldiers loosed a volley of battle cries, weapons raised and shaking, and began to descend into the valley. Sora charged ahead first, even beating Peter down the hill, adrenaline shaking his fingers and making his heart shudder. He knew Goofy was somewhere behind him and Donald somewhere ahead, but his focus remained entirely on the jagged line of snarling faces rushing to meet him.

For a second, the space between them seemed to expand, pulling time apart like a rubber band. In that moment, Sora felt the hot wind in his hair, the thunder of his hooves and the yells from his throat like a whisper in the distance.

Then the band snapped, slamming the two armies together with stone-crushing force. Sora swung the Keyblade through two Armored Knights, then a Lance Soldier, then landed a hit on a minotaur before he even realized he was fighting. He'd gained so much momentum from the downhill race that he felt like he couldn't stop. He became a whirlwind of fighting, swinging the Keyblade in graceful arcs that sent huge minotaurs sprawling and sliced Heartless into splinters of darkness. His hooves pounded a battle rhythm into the earth, and trampled anything that happened to get caught in the way.

The blind charge continued until the two armies became less distinct, and began to battle each other one-on-one. Sora slowed to a canter to get a sense of his bearings, and to figure out where everyone else had ended up. A flash of white told him Peter was a fair run behind him, and he figured Edmund was still at the back of the army.

Goofy suddenly appeared out of the melee, bashing into a very confused Lance Soldier with his shield. He slumped forward, his breath wheezy. "There's an awful lotta Heartless here!"

Sora just reached into one of his pouches and tossed the knight a potion. "We've still gotta keep going! Come on, stick by me!"

Goofy took his back, slamming into Heartless that came too close, and sending his shield spinning at those farther away. As a gang of Armored Knights approached, Sora's first instinct was to use their attacks against them and take out several at once. He quickly realized he wasn't able to in his centaur form. Instead he kept using his horse body to his advantage, trampling enemies before him and slamming into others from the side.

Donald finally swooped down to join them, and landed momentarily to give himself an elixir. However, he quickly realized he only had three left. "Where's the Witch?" he yelled.

Sora scanned the battlefield, but saw no sign of the silver chariot. "I don't know, but..." he paused, feeling the adrenaline run dry and exhaustion sweep over him. Sweat rolled down Sora's body and over his straining legs, matting his fur. His hooves had pounded the ground so hard it felt as if he were about to falter.

"They're still coming!" he gasped, nearly chocking on his own saliva.

"How many are there anyway?!" Donald quacked angrily and reared up on lion hindpaws. "That White Witch is gonna get it!"

"Sora, how 'boutcha you try drivin' with me this time? Donald could back us up with magic, and we could all use some Curin' right 'bout now."

Sora began to brace himself for the wave of Shadows. "YEEEAH! If we drive Donald won't need to worry, we'll feel better." Finding a brief gap in the fray, Sora grabbed hold of Goofy's hand, swung the faun onto his back, and concentrated. Feeling the strength of his friend's heart mingle with his, he curled in on himself before the power literally burst from his body, sending enemies back.

"Hold tight," the red-clad Sora called back to the spent Goofy. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride!" Sora reared, brandishing his blades.

Power seared through his muscles as he fought, and Sora barely registered the lightning from Donald's staff. With each cry he could feel the might of another's heart, and how wonderful it felt, that power...strangely wonderful...

A Neoshadow's slash to his side elicited tears, and as he turned to face his opponent, he licked a stray tear away. Something tasted odd, somehow. It tasted...like the power felt. But he realized it wasn't the tear, but an odd aftertaste from something distantly familiar.

Sora raised a massive hoof, and the Neoshadow looked up, knowing its next destination.

Hooves and dual-Keyblades made quick word of the swarm, but it was only the beginning. As the strength ebbed from his muscles and Goofy revived, Sora and Donald saw a more menacing group.

While most of the Armored Knights and Lance Soldiers were gone, Living Bones still roared alongside Morning Stars. A few dark blue Wyverns still swarmed the skies. Though hard to tell, the Behemoth loomed beyond somewhere.

The Key-bearer looked to his side. Both Donald and Goofy looked as tired as he was, in part from driving so much. In the lull of action Sora held out his arm, watching it shake from overexertion and adrenaline. After every drive he felt worse, and after each one, the next drive felt even better.

He longed for the power of their hearts to mingle with his. And the situation demanded it.

From his saddlebag he pulled out some recovery orbs.

"Sora, are you plannin' on driving again already?!" Goofy sputtered. "Save those an' get a second wind!"

"Our hearts are stronger together! How else do you plan on taking these guys down?!" he panted as his glove absorbed the orbs.

"Maybe we're going about this all wrong," Donald wheezed. "Let's see how we—"

"Are you with me? I need both of you this time!" Sora gasped.

An awkward silence served as a reluctant agreement.

Sora pulled the faun and tiny griffin onto his back, as before, and focused.

He could feel his heart beat stronger as he could sense their hearts. The power of their hearts was warm, inviting, tempting...

The power of their hearts...

Hearts...

Tempting...

So easy...something so natural...

As he curled inward, he could taste that power again...and something else, something familiar and foul.

His centaur body slipped away entirely, the magician's spell melting...

Donald and Goofy cried out as the previously benign burst of energy sent them flying away from Sora.

"What happened?!" Donald cried, putting a talon on his head.

"Sora!" Goofy hollered.

In the heat of battle blood ran cold. Though hard to tell in the swell of Heartless, something terrifying was tearing apart their foes. In successive, unpredictable flashes darkness coiled around the Heartless and slew them with ruthless ease.

"We gotta help Sora before that thing or the Behemoth gets him!" Goofy yelled. Indeed, the once-distant Behemoth was closing in.

"Wait!" Donald, in an effort to stop his friend, grabbed hold of his leg and brought them both down. "I think it IS Sora! That darkness form's gotten ahold of him again!"

Goofy struggled to get back on his feet. "What do we do?!"

"I don't know! Last time it just wore off, but..."

The Behemoth joined the front, but to little avail. Tendrils of darkness raced like whips to the creature's head, besieging the beast. Dark tentacles wrapped around its neck like a giant noose.

A moment of silence from the black-covered Sora ensued as the Behemoth's head submerged into the throng of other Heartless. Hisses and slashes echoed from the struggle as the violence diminished in the crowd.

"Sora...!"

A sudden explosion of black energy enveloped Donald and Goofy in a quickly-dissipating cloud of darkness. Turning back, they looked to the rocky outcropping Sora was last seen.

The swarm had disappeared.

"C'mon, we'd better have a look-see." Goofy said.

"But what about--?"

"Aww, shucks, how're we gonna help 'im if we're not even there?"

Donald reluctantly nodded and followed. Just inside the outcropping they two could already get a better look than they'd care to.

Once again, it was as if Sora's shadow had risen and swallowed him. His centaur body was gone completely, and darkness crept over his skin and wafted off of him like vile smoke. Yellow eyes stared right through Donald and Goofy as the form approached them on three limbs.

"S-S-Sora?"

Sora just hissed at Donald, creeping closer. He kept its left hand off the ground, holding it as if ready to slash with powerful claws.

"Sora, it's us, your old pals!" Goofy tried.

The shadow reared and stared right into his eyes, holding its arms wide as it twitched.

"Knock it off, you big palooka!" Donald blurted. Leaping up into flight, the little griffin knocked the form on the head several times with its staff.

Sora recoiled with a sharp squeal and hiss, paused, and then slowly backed away.

"Sora?"

Backing into a series of boulders, he turned to glance at them before curling up against the rocks.

A flash of light appeared, melting the darkness away.

"Sora! Sora, are you okay?!"

Sora lay there shivering, in human form, but Keyblade back in hand. Eyes flickering open, he weakly asked, "...Both—you... 'kay?"

"We're fine, what about you?!" It seemed Donald couldn't make up his mind between anger and concern.

"You went into that weird shadow form again!" Goofy said, twisting his fingers with nervousness. "We weren't sure you'd recognize us again!"

_Always whenever I'm driving too much..._ Sora rubbed at his forehead. The darkness had felt so cold. "I'm sorry, I don't know why this is happening...I just...knew not to hurt you."

It had tasted so good.

Sora wiped his mouth off with the side of his sleeve, trying to get the taste off of his tongue. As good as it was, he wanted no more of it. _Not if it puts my friends in danger._

After several long moments of sucking in gulps of fresh air, Sora started to get to his feet, only to realize he was back on two legs. His shocked eyes flew up to meet Donald's. "My centaur form's gone!"

"Yeah, gimmie a minute," Donald quacked. Goofy passed a hi-potion to Sora, who gulped it down gratefully, as Donald prepared the spell again. In a flash of lights and tingling, Sora found himself back on four legs.

He shook the tension out of his muscles, trying to push back down the hungry mantra and sharp flavor that still lingered. Time felt skewed now, and his memories of the last time he fell into the shadow form only emphasized the fact. He was barely aware of the last moment of battle. "Nobody saw me, did they?"

Goofy glanced around, his hand on his chin. "I dunno...but ya sure did take out most of the Heartless in that weird dark form."

Indeed, while Heartless still prowled the field, their ranks were thinned to near oblivion. For some reason, this thought frightened Sora more than pleased him.

Then the purpose of all these Heartless came rushing back to him.

"The Witch! Where is she?!"

A sound like two mountains crunching together answered his question. Something stone-heavy plummeted from the sky and smashed into pieces upon the hard slabs of earth. Sora's throat went dry at seeing the pieces of stone shaped like feathers and claws...the statue had once been a living griffin.

He followed the line of its descent back to the edge of the hill, where Peter's army had first descended. He saw Peter, having lost his unicorn mount, on the ground and swinging wildly...at none other than the White Witch.

"PETER!" Sora yelled, his voice faltering over a cracked and dry throat. He waved his arm at Donald and Goofy. "COME ON!"

Sora saw Peter turn, his voice an order he could not quite make out, but he could guess. The centaur saw a human form, urged on by an armored beaver, turn after a notable hesitation. The boy's legs were weighted with guilt and fear for his brother.

Such a simple distraction was weakness enough for Jadis to prey upon, and she handled her blade as if it were the claw of an icy set of talons, catching Peter's helm and removing it swiftly. He immediately reached to his face; lucky a gash across his cheek was the worst of the damage.

The three sprinted towards the fight, hooves and paws churning the earth to dust as the gap between them closed. Donald took to the air again, and pointed his staff at the witch. "THUND—"

In one swift movement, no more than a silver-cold blur of armor and fabric, the Witch flung her staff in Donald's direction and shot a bolt of magic at him. The bolt hit home, freezing Donald mid-flight.

"NO!"

The stone figure of Donald fell in a lazy arc to the rock-spotted fields, completely beyond the reach of Sora's arm, beyond saving, beyond the icy death-grip that froze Sora's heart...

"I got 'im, I got 'im!"

Goofy launched himself ahead of Sora, his arms outstretched, and intercepted Donald mid-fall. He landed harshly on his tail, and flipped and rolled over once with the statue bouncing in and out of his grasp...but when he finally landed, Donald was at least unshattered.

Little good that it did him.

"DONALD!" The name came out of Sora more like a sob. He skidded to a stop before Goofy, who still clenched onto the stone magician as if he were still in midair. "NO! There's gotta be a way to..."

Goofy didn't answer, but trembled on the ground. Sora searched blindly through his pouches for something, anything that could be an antidote. Seeing nothing, he held the Keyblade aloft and choked out a cure spell. The healing leaves appeared and settled over Donald's frozen form...but changed nothing.

_Even the power you hold cannot change the laws of the worlds..._

The Key-bearer thought perhaps now he was supposed to feel grief. But instead he just felt anger...even stronger than when Goofy had nearly been killed, he felt it alight his nerves and makes his limbs quiver. It brought back the bittersweet taste of darkness in an instant, but he didn't care.

_She'll pay for this!_


	16. Aslan's Return

**LOST WORLDS**

**Chapter 16: Aslan Returns**

**Written by: **Lynx and Rebmakash and hosted through the generosity of Organization VI

**Rating:** G (K)

**Summary: **After the battle against the thousand Heartless at Hollow Bastion, a whole new ring of worlds appears for Sora, Donald and Goofy to explore.

**Disclaimer: **We do not own Kingdom Hearts II or any of the Disney movies shown here; they are copyright to Disney and Square Enix. Please see the first chapter for the full disclaimer.

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He whirled to face Jadis, his blue eyes as wet and fierce as the oceans under Cair Paravel. Ignoring Goofy's cries, he raised the Keyblade level to his face and charged.

His gallop picked up speed, until the scenery rushed by him in a smear of green and blue. He barely registered his legs pumping the distance into nothing, or the sweat-soaked hair slapping in his face. He saw only the woman who had killed one of his best friends, and in his mind, he screamed _FACE ME!_

Jadis heard. She spun to see him, looking almost bewildered... and giving another a brief opening to slice her staff in two.

Edmund leapt in, defying his brother's order at this opportunity. The sound of shattering crystal echoed loudly along the rocks as the magic spent itself in a single brilliant flash of salvation.

She gasped aloud at the intrusion and turned to face her new opponent, twirling her staff to immediately pierce the boy's frame. Peter cried his brother's name, speeding the centaur's legs. Jadis raised the snapped staff to strike again just as Sora's hooves slammed into her side.

"Sora!"

Peter's yell went unheeded by both. Jadis was back on her feet unnaturally fast, leaving Sora only a breathless second to block her swing with the Keyblade, his fury also protecting the seriously wounded Edmund. He counterattacked and then pushed in for the kill, swinging the Keyblade with the blinding force of a fallen comrade. While his rage made his limbs light, it made his heart heavy, dripping blood or sweat or sorrow he didn't know.

In contrast, Jadis's face remained focused and stiff with the concentration of battle. All of Sora's swinging was just wind against her face.

"I have heard of the Key-bearers..." she said, her voice cold despite the fire in her movements."And I have always wanted to meet one. But all this weight on your heart! It consumes you entirely!"

"Shut up!" Sora roared, stomping his hooves to the beat of his attacks.

"I see now how this weapon is so bound to its bearer's heart...how dependent! No wonder the old bearers have all died."

"I said SHUT UP!"

Jadis crossed blades with Sora, and the two weapons skitted and ground into each other. "And you...you will do the same."

Her marble eyes strayed to the keychain dangling from the Keyblade...the same lion's mane that rimmed her battle armor. "Even now, the lion gives us both power..."

"He gives ME power, too!"

Peter's battle cry broke their standstill, and he jabbed his sword at Jadis, leaving a long gash across her arm. She hissed back, her eyes flying open with a rage almost equal to Sora's. With an air-slicing swing she flung Sora backwards and knocked the sword out of Peter's hands. Peter fell to the ground and rolled to a stop.

"Never enough power to defeat _me_!" Jadis proclaimed, raising her splintered staff above Peter's sprawled form. All Sora saw was a mirror image of the previous night, where he'd watch Aslan's life be snuffed out.

But this time, he could do something.

Without speaking, without thinking, Sora leapt between Jadis and Peter.

He felt a prick of pain just above his right hind leg. The prick then spread into a dull, wet throb, then into a screaming inferno in his mind. The adrenaline, the rage, the darkness...all of it died inside him, leaving him feeling like a hunk of dead flesh on four reed-thin legs. He collapsed almost on top of Peter, his right hind leg twisting as blood flowed from the wound.

The Keyblade suddenly felt like a thousand tons of metal in his hands, and for all his mental coaxing, he could not move it. He was defenseless.

Sora looked up, panting, to see Jadis standing over both of them. Her broken staff flickered in the sunlight, poised this time to drive into his exposed chest.

He shut his eyes, hoping she was at least not cruel enough to make him suffer.

When a magnificent roar shattered the sky.

The entire battlefield froze at the sound. All looked to the rise of the hill, including Peter, Jadis and Sora. The Keyblade Master felt something like a warm wind wash over his body, flooding away the dull throb of pain and horror. Lucy and Susan Pevensie had returned...and Aslan stood between them, looking stronger and brighter than he'd ever seen him. Sora knew that Aslan shouldn't be standing there; knew that he'd seen him die...and yet that didn't seem to matter now.

The Keyblade became light in his hands once again, spreading new strength to his body. It seemed the blade itself was giving him a second chance, urging him to get up and try once more. Ignoring the pain shooting through his leg, Sora staggered back onto all fours, and swung the Keyblade across Jadis's midsection.

The Witch was too shocked by Aslan's appearance to even notice she'd been hit. Invigorated and determined, Sora hit her again and again with the Keyblade. The staff flew from her hands with one swing, and she tumbled to the ground with another.

He felt the thunder of earth giving way to massive paws, producing the same sense of awe as when they'd first fallen into Narnia. The thunder grew louder and faster, and although Sora wanted to finish off Jadis himself, he knew better than to stand in the lion's way.

Aslan leapt from a rock outcropping, clearing both Peter and Sora, and landed with claws and fangs barred on the White Witch. Any screams Jadis might have produced were smothered in Aslan's vengeance.

Sora went to go help up Peter, when the firey sting from his stab wound suddenly rushed back to his brain. He buckled under the pain, and landed back on his side. He held up a hand as Peter started to get back up. "No wait, let me help you—"

"I think you're the one that needs help!" The two Pevensie sisters raced down to the battleground.

"No, wait… Where's Edmund?" Sora exclaimed. "Wasn't he…?"

The girls briefly glanced to each other before Susan went to help her brother to his feet. The three rushed to Edmund with a desperation the Key-bearer knew well. The brother was close by, as Sora had not strayed far as he clashed with the witch. Breathing heavily under the pain, Sora propped the human part of his body on his elbow to watch. His body was far too heavy to drag.

Working swiftly, Susan removed Edmund's helm, as gentle Lucy put a red vial to his lips.

The boy's gasps ceased, and he grew still. Sora looked to the faces of his family, and the pain of his fallen friend flooded over him again. He knew loss, and felt it as much as the other Pevensies.

Gentle sighs mingled with the wind, and Peter looked up. Edmund stirred, weak, but alive. His brother was the first to embrace him.

With Edmund alive and well, the four siblings were soon reunited once again, a weight was lifted from Sora's heart.

He smiled weakly. "Um, little help here?"

Lucy turned, vibrancy again in her eyes. Running over, she produced the small vial of reddish liquid again and handed it to him. "Here, drink this!"

Taking it to be a hi-potion, Sora attempted to twist the cap off. Lucy held out her hands to stop him. "No, you only need one drop, silly!"

Sora shot her an odd look, but tipped the vial over anyway and allowed one drop to fall on his tongue.

If a gulp of potion or a cure spell made him feel better and healed his wounds, then this stuff worked twice as well. The pain in his leg instantly melted away as the wound closed back up. Sora got back to his feet and trotted in a circle, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey, that worked great!"

Lucy giggled, and turned once again to her family. But Sora was drawn back to Aslan, who stepped towards them with all the majesty of a victor in a long war.

Sora bumbled around his words for a moment before they came out. "But, how...we saw the White Witch stab you!"

The old smile returned to the lion's face, still full of secrets. "I did say that even your power couldn't undo the laws of this world...but you see, the laws can undo themselves."

Sora wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but suspected that something important had been withheld from him. "Wait! If you knew you'd be able to come back from the dead like that...why didn't you _tell_ us?"

Aslan almost chuckled. "Would you have done what I asked and protected Peter so well if you knew I was coming back?"

Sora attempted to come up with a good reply, but failed. He just crossed his arms over his chest, trying to act angry, but unable to hide his smile. The Witch was dead, her Heartless defeated, and her remaining followers fled. The heat of battle mere minutes ago now felt like nothing more than a bad nightmare.

But this nightmare left behind scars.

Goofy trudged up the hill towards the reunion, wobbly on his goat legs. Sora's face fell, and his heart sunk even lower at the tiny griffin statue Goofy carried.

"Donald..."

The Key-bearer lifted a hand, as if trying to pluck out a suitable word for his feelings. His heart felt like it had become as stone as his friend. _After all we've been through together...why this? Why now?_

He felt withheld tears finally pushing for release, and wiped them away with his arm, hoping no one would notice.

People did, however. Lucy Pevensie stepped over and put a hand on Sora's side. He shuddered a little at the contact, both comforted and distressed by it. Try as he could, he couldn't will the Keyblade back out of his hands. "Forget the laws of this world...I can't even fix _this_."

Aslan appeared to be the only one not upset by this occurrence. "Sora, I think you have done enough for us."

He walked over to Goofy, and opened his mouth as if to speak. Instead, he just released a long breath onto the Donald statue. For a moment, Sora just stood and scratched his head at the action. _Is that...some kind of Narnian goodbye?_

Until the gray stone color of the statue began to melt away, and Donald's normal color returned to his limbs. Sora watched, his eyes growing wider with wonderment, as the duck magician slowly returned to his old self.

Donald blinked rapidly before letting out a squawk and flapping out of Goofy's arms. "What's the big idea?!"

Goofy just laughed at Donald's flustered fluttering. "Gawrsh, Donald, you're—"

"ALIVE!"

Donald quacked even louder as Sora pounced on him from behind, wrapping his arms around his friend in a gut-squeezing hug. He attempted to wriggle out of the Key-bearer's arms, but Sora would have none of it.

"Hey, put me down! Put me _down_, ya big horsebrain!" Donald yelled, batting Sora over the head with his claws. "We gotta get the Witch!"

Sora finally let go, allowing Donald to flap out of arm's reach. He looked around the now-empty battlefield in shock. "Hey! Where'd she go?"

"We got 'er already, Donald!" Goofy chuckled.

Donald looked unhappy at the news. "And I missed it? Aw, phooey! I almost had her!"

Nobody could hold back a laugh...even Aslan produced a short, deep laugh that could've toppled rocks and sprouted trees all in the same moment. Sora instantly wished he could hear it more.

"I'm just so glad you're okay!" Sora proclaimed, spreading his arms wide.

Donald just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Big softie."

"Big softie that saved my life," Peter broke in, his voice brimming with gratefulness. "I don't know how I can repay you."

Sora folded his arms behind his head and grinned. "We're just happy to help."

"Nevertheless..."

Sora was shocked to see the blond boy suddenly kneel, holding his sword before him. He bowed his head. "Thank you."

Before Sora could reply, the entire company took notice of Peter's sword. It floated up out of his hands of its own will, and hovered in the air, speckles of light circling around it.

Sora knew what it was instantly.

He pointed the Keyblade towards the ground as the normal scenery disappeared in a mist of lights and clouds. Using Peter's sword as a guide, Sora aimed the Keyblade at the revealed Keyhole and unlocked its depths. He felt relief wash over him like the light that spilled from the Keyhole...at least this world they'd been able to save. Organization or no, lost hearts or no, a new barrier had been broken between this world and its brothers.

_Like the barriers between hearts._

The Narnian scenery returned in a flash, and Peter's sword floated back to his waiting hands. He examined it with a confused look, as if searching for some changes on the blade. "What just happened?"

"A new pathway is open!" Goofy explained with a nod of his head.

"All of you have new journeys to begin..." Aslan said, looking between the Pevensies and Sora and his friends. "But now I believe they will take you in different directions."

"So you're going away?" Lucy's voice fell.

"Yeah..." Sora smiled sadly at the young girl. "But we might be able to come back and see you sometime."

Goofy added, "If the path's open, maybe we won't hafta fall into the world from a train next time!"

Donald flew up, and scanned the stark-blue skies. "Problem is, I dunno where the gummi ship is. We may not be able to get to it from here."

Before the Pevensies could start asking questions about ships made of gelatinous confectionaries, Sora turned back to them. "Maybe you guys _can_ help us. Do you know of a special way out of Narnia? Like, say, a way to a different world?"

The four children exchanged looks of astonishment. "You know about the world outside of Narnia?"

Sora chuckled nervously. "You have _no_ idea."

Lucy smiled with a look of secret-handshake mystery. "Well, _we_ got in through an unusual way. If you go through the woods, past the Beavers' house, you'll come to a lamppost in the middle of the forest. That's close by where we came in. Mr. Tumnus can show you the way."

"Gawrsh, thanks!" Goofy replied.

Sora gave a let's-go glance to his two fellow travelers. "Well, I guess this means we should be hitting the road."

However, he first trotted over to Aslan. He felt an endless sea of questions and more dammed behind his throat, but didn't even know where to begin voicing them. Even the short "thank you" that leaked out felt difficult enough.

Aslan, however, had much more to say. "Sora...you know well by now that the Keyblade has tremendous power. You also know that that power is connected to your heart...and I saw in your eyes both the darkness and light of that heart, and I trusted the light of it. You haven't disappointed me."

At first, the memory of descending into the strange shadow form made Sora lower his head. But then, for some reason, the left photograph and the thought of Roxas popped to Sora's mind. "The darkness?"

"Others have wielded the Keyblade...and others have fallen prey to its power, and to their own corrupt hearts. So many..." Aslan shook his head sadly. "But perhaps...you will be the one to change that."

Sora felt he should respond, but could think of nothing. Saving the worlds seemed a large enough job as it was without having to be a part of something even larger. "Then...I guess I'll just deal with that when it comes," he said, shrugging.

Aslan's smile spread. "Not a wise answer...but a good one." He turned to face the woods to the West. "Sora...take care on your journey. And perhaps, do come and visit us again. I'm sure the Pevensie children would appreciate that."

Sora's confidence returned in full. "Right, we will!"

------

The trek back through the woods took a little longer than expected...Sora supposed Narnia was bigger than he originally thought. A faun named Tumnus escorted them back through the forest all the way to the strange lamppost, where he then quickly left them to return to Cair Paravel. While Sora, Donald and Goofy wanted to attend the crowning ceremony for their friends, they knew a signal from the gateway meant it was time to move on.

However, they still weren't exactly sure on where to go.

Donald flew up to the lamppost for a closer look, as if expecting it to give them a clue. Seeing nothing unusual, he called back down, "Well, _now_ where do we go?"

Goofy scratched at his horns. "Y'know, I think maybe we should go back to our old selves. No tellin' where we may pop up next, and it won't be good to look like this."

"Oh, fine." Donald circled back to earth and took out his staff. With a brief flick and a muttering of magic, skins of light enveloped the three and returned them to their normal selves.

"Woah..." Sora staggered a bit, having to remind himself how to walk on two legs. He automatically summoned the Keyblade to regain his most familiar balance.

When he felt a sudden pull on the Keyblade.

"Hey..." Sora followed the jittery feeling traveling from the weapon up to his arm to a densely-packed grove of conifers. "I think we need to go this way."

"That's nothing but a bunch of trees!" Donald quacked, hopping up and down...he seemed to miss his flight abilities.

"Just trust me on this," Sora insisted. He made a beeline for the trees, and noticed the warm and jittery feeling growing stronger. Honing in on its source, he dove into the grove. Donald and Goofy remained close behind him.

The branches pushed in tighter until Sora could barely squeeze between them. But still, he felt, he _smelled_ something just beyond the pine needles. And he met it head-on, causing him to stop in his tracks, and Donald and Goofy to smash into him.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Ahyuck, sorry, Donald!"

"Not _you_, I mean—"

"Wait—" Sora reached out a hand, and felt varnished wood and clothes fabric. "There's something here, if I just..."

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"OH MY!"

The voice rattled loud around them as Sora, Donald and Goofy fumbled around in the dark. Then, with all the grace of being shoved down a flight of stairs, the three found themselves spat out onto a carpeted floor.

Sora struggled to free himself from the tangle of his comrades, rubbing at his forehead. "What was _that_?!"

Naturally, Goofy was the first to catch on. "Hey, look! We're back in Beast's castle!"

Indeed, as soon as the room stopped spinning, they recognized the soft purple drapes of Belle's bed. And above them stood the Wardrobe, looking a dozen different kinds of flustered...or as flustered as a Wardrobe could look.

"Well, I _never_!" she declared, slamming her doors back shut in a huff.

Sora grinned cheekily. "Eh heh...sorry about that!"

Belle's melodious laugh reached them, and she leaned down to give them a hand up. "How on earth did you three get in there, anyway?"

Sora glanced back at his two companions, who could only offer back confused shrugs. Sora laughed as well. "I think...you wouldn't believe us if we told you!"


End file.
